Dare to Care Food Bank Taps BoardWalk Consulting to Assist CEO Search
May 28, 2021 – Executive recruitment firm BoardWalk Consulting has been selected to find the next president and chief executive officer of the Dare to Care Food Bank in Louisville, KY. John Sparrow, senior director, and Paula Nicholas, senior research associate, are spearheading the assignment.
“For more than 50 years, the Dare to Care Food Bank has helped neighbors in need access critical food supplies through a network of 270 partner organizations,” said BoardWalk Consulting. “As it looks towards the future, the food bank seeks to build on strong programmatic, operational and fundraising successes in recent years and drive deeper awareness of both its mission and programs.”
The president and CEO will be expected to bring a collaborative spirit, rigor and business acumen, energy and an authentic persona to help expand the Dare to Care Food Bank’s impact, reach and connection to the community, said the search firm. Working in partnership with the board and staff, the president and CEO will ensure that Dare to Care remains among the most important and respected non-profit organizations in the region.
The food bank seeks an executive who is driven to combat hunger and the fundamental drivers of food insecurity, who is a humble servant-leader, and who brings relevant professional experience in managing an organization of similar complexity and scope.
A “Bold and Compelling” Opportunity
Mandates for the new president and CEO will include: maintaining and advancing an unusually strong organizational culture; as a premiere voice for building healthy communities, ensuring that Dare to Care advances both healthy food and nutrition initiatives and evaluation and leadership of overall food access within its 13-country service area; engaging a broader segment of the community and increasing awareness of and access to the food and nutrition-related solutions of the food bank; and helping Dare to Care effectively transition from pandemic-era giving and support to post-pandemic realities, ultimately raising the necessary funds, managing the organization and embracing the responsibility to lead the food bank to a successful and sustainable future.
BoardWalk Consulting said: “The opportunity for the president and CEO is bold and compelling: to ensure that Dare to Care’s programs and resources reach as many people as possible, help the food bank and the community make progress on addressing the root causes of food insecurity, and broadly promote and advocate for the role that food and nutrition can play in helping communities become healthier, stronger and more successful.”
Key Attributes
The ideal candidate would be a compelling leader with significant knowledge, passion and experience in contexts relevant to leading the Dare to Care Food Bank, said the search firm. Personal characteristics include integrity, insightfulness, charisma, high emotional intelligence and outstanding interpersonal skills. Previous experience with food banks, or within the food industry would be an asset, but is not a requirement.
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Attributes being sought in the new president and CEO include: passion for the mission of Dare to Care; a bias towards a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity; someone who excels at utilizing data to make decisions; an authentic persona and a deep grounding in servant leadership; skill as a listener and communicator; and the ability to excite, lead and mobilize people to accomplish important goals.
Dare to Care, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, is a leader in addressing issues related to food insecurity and one of Louisville’s most respected non-profit organizations. In 2020, the food bank distributed more than 23 million meals and over 7.7 million pounds of produce through 270 food pantries, shelters, emergency kitchens and after-school programs to serve the 171,000 food insecure people in its 13-county service area in Kentuckiana. The food bank has a full-time staff of 63 and over 3,000 volunteers.
Non-Profit Focused Recruiters
BoardWalk Consulting, based in Atlanta, is a national executive search firm that recruits CEOs and senior leadership for mission-driven non-profit organizations. Founded in 2002, the firm leads executive searches for clients from across the non-profit sector with global, national, regional, and local missions. Many of the firm’s team members have previously served as non-profit executives, grant makers and board leaders. BoardWalk Consulting is also an active partner in Panorama, the global network of independent executive search firms.
Mr. Sparrow brings over two decades of experience in non-profit administration and performing arts venue management to BoardWalk’s clients. Since joining the firm in 2013, he has worked with a diverse scope of clients including those serving education, civil and human rights, public media, public safety, childhood diseases, museums, youth empowerment, environment and the needs of institutional churches.
Ms. Nicholas has three decades of experience in executive search. Before joining BoardWalk, she was retained by a large executive search firm in a number of roles. As director of research, Ms. Nicholas hired, trained and managed staff in many of the firm’s offices and served as part of a team that developed and led training for new research associates globally. As a senior associate, she also managed client and candidate management.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
