Diversified Search Group | Koya Partners Seeking New Leader for Americans for the Arts

September 24, 2024 – Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, has been retained by Americans for the Arts (AFTA) to lead in its search for a new CEO. Managing director Anne McCarthy, vice president Chartise Clark, senior search associate Nikki Lynch, and senior search coordinator Kaley Blaszinski are leading the assignment. The well-publicized departure of its long-serving CEO in 2021 was followed by the appointment of an interim leader. This leadership change, coupled with external economic, social, and cultural shifts affecting all nonprofits, required AFTA to plot a new trajectory. This includes the need to facilitate strategic cohesion between the board, staff and the field at large. Additionally, like many organizations today, technology and infrastructure issues have also hindered efficiency.

The incoming CEO faces the critical mission of exhibiting steady leadership, building trust, and addressing financial and operational challenges. This leader must enhance AFTA’s credibility while defining and driving a mission that aligns with the current and emerging economic, political, and cultural environments of America in 2025 and beyond.

Americans for the Arts seeks a CEO who will examine a legacy institution with fresh eyes to lead the development and implementation of a bold strategy and plan that will revitalize AFTA’s relevance, reach, and impact. Working closely with the board, staff, membership, and partners, the CEO will be responsible for shaping the future of AFTA. This includes refining its value proposition, rethinking the business model, diversifying revenue streams, identifying new ways to serve and expand its membership, promoting all avenues for impact in the sector, advocating for the arts at large, and fostering membership growth through visibility, engagement and thought leadership in the sector.

Americans for the Arts is a non-profit organization whose primary focus is advancing the arts in the United States with offices in Washington, D.C., and New York City, and more than 50 years of service. It is dedicated to representing and serving local communities, and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.

Diversified Search Group is a family of firms serving specialized sectors. The firm was founded almost five decades ago for the express purpose of placing diverse candidates in client organizations. Koya Partners is a part of the Diversified Search Group and is dedicated to mission-driven leadership. Koya works broadly at the senior-most levels of the mission-driven field in philanthropy, social services, arts and culture, and social justice, among others.

Combined Resources

In 2019, Koya was acquired by Diversified Search. With the combination of revenues and resources, Diversified Search and Koya now represent one of the largest non-profit and higher education practices in the executive search industry. Koya’s specialization in mission-driven search, primarily with non-profit and higher education clients, complements Diversified’s own major education, non-profit, and arts and culture practices, as well as the firm’s healthcare services, board of directors, life sciences, industrial, and digital, media, entertainment, and sports practices.

Ms. McCarthy has experience partnering with a broad range of mission-driven clients active in the fields of philanthropy, arts and culture, conservation and environment, social services, membership organizations, and beyond. She has led searches for CEOs, presidents, directors, executive directors, and board members in addition to searches for a variety of functional roles, including CFOs, COOs, CMOs, and program officers.

In philanthropy, Ms. McCarthy’s clients include the Obama Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, the Fidelity Foundations, the Field Foundation of Illinois, Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation, Hudson-Webber Foundation, and the Chicago Foundation for Women. She also has deep experience in the field of arts and culture. Ms. McCarthy has partnered with the following clients, among others, on CEO and director searches: Academy of Arts and Sciences, Arts Midwest, Buffalo Center for Arts and Technology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Chicago Botanic Garden, Ganna Walska Lotusland, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Kohl Children’s Museum, Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, Naples Botanic Garden, The Newark Museum, New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the Pritzker Architecture Prize. She has also partnered with Chicago Public Media, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Newark Museum, and Window to the World Communications (WTTW/WFMT), among others, to recruit C-suite executives.

Diversified Search Group | Koya Partners Tapped by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation to Find Chief Development Officer

Koya Partners, a part of Diversified Search Group, has been chosen by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation in New York City to lead in its search for a chief development officer. The assignment is being led by Gerard F. Cattie Jr. The CDO will design and lead a comprehensive, robust fundraising strategy to meet the Guggenheim’s current and future resource challenges as well as its ambitious aspirations. Reporting to the director and CEO, the CDO will work in partnership with leadership and colleagues, including the board of trustees, to leverage the Guggenheim’s extraordinary assets to focus on innovative, strategic approaches to expand its philanthropic base. The successful candidate will be a dynamic self-starter with a track record of success in a development leadership role as both a collaborative team leader and a frontline major gift solicitor. They will be a creative innovator, an exceptional relationship builder, and a proven manager and mentor.

Ms. Clark partners with a variety of mission-driven clients nationally and globally to recruit exceptional talent. She also specializes in helping clients navigate issues related to inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. She has played a leading role in identifying and recruiting leaders to CEO, president, executive director, and other senior leadership positions for a broad range of clients. She has experience in human and social services, youth development, advocacy, and organizations with a global presence. Representative clients include the Southern Poverty Law Center, Feeding America, the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, RefuSHE, StriveTogether, and the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.

Ms. Lynch plays a critical role in sourcing, engaging, and screening candidates as well as creating search-related reports and materials for clients on executive searches for a wide range of mission-driven organizations across the country. Prior to Koya Partners | Diversified Search Group, she built a wealth of experience in recruitment and retention across a variety of industries including non-profit, corporate, education, technology, healthcare, and philanthropy

Ms. Blaszinski assists senior leaders in identifying and recruiting top talent for mission-driven organizations throughout the country. She supports all stages of the search process, including search operations and logistics. Ms. Blaszinski joined Koya Partners with experience in the legal and professional services spaces within the recruiting industry. She has recruited high volume contract and contract to hire candidates for law firms, corporate legal offices, and financial institutions.

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; and Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media

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