BoardWalk Consulting

About Us

BoardWalk Consulting is the first call for mission-driven organizations facing leadership transitions too consequential to get wrong.

We specialize in high-stakes searches where hiring the wrong leader will carry real organizational and reputational consequences, such as CEO departures, founder exits, post-crisis hires, and strategic pivots. Our clients are foundations and nonprofits of every scale and focus, both national and local, with some spreading beyond our borders with international chapters.

Before developing a leadership profile, we conduct a listening tour: engaging boards, staff, and community partners to surface what the organization needs beyond the role. The result is a call to action for leaders that reflects not just a laundry list of duties, but the moment. This process surfaces candidates who are both able and eager to take our clients into their next chapter.

We run a small number of searches at a time, on purpose. Every engagement receives senior attention from start to finish. Finding leaders that matter for missions that matter® is not just our tagline. It is our reason for being.

ACHIEVEMENTS

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At BoardWalk Consulting, our own team members model the power of diversity in leadership. Our individual journeys to executive search were very different, but we share a commitment to better lives and a better world, and we feel privileged to engage in such meaningful work.

As a team, our multifaceted experience contributes to our ability to identify the mission-critical strengths, trajectory and sense of purpose our clients expect in their leaders. Our own experience, expertise and empathy give us a competitive edge in finding leaders that matter for missions that matter. ®

BoardWalk Consulting

Solutions And Expertise

Since 2002, BoardWalk Consulting has conducted hundreds of leadership searches for foundations and nonprofits in every region of the country. Recruiting CEOs is our primary work, but we are pleased to recruit board members and other senior leaders who can add exceptional value to a client’s mission, whatever the stage of the organization.

Solutions
Industries
Functions
  • Board/Governance
  • CEO/President
  • Development
  • Finance/Accounting
  • GM/Operations
  • Marketing & Sales

BoardWalk Consulting

News Briefings

BoardWalk Consulting Leading CEO Search for the National Breast Cancer Coalition

BoardWalk Consulting was recently retained by the National Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) to lead in its search for a new CEO. The search is being led by Crystal Stephens and Terri Kohan. This is a rare opportunity: to lead one of the most respected and independent voices in breast cancer advocacy, building on three decades of momentum. Reporting

BoardWalk Consulting Leading CEO Search for Downtown Atlanta Inc.

BoardWalk Consulting has been tapped by Downtown Atlanta Inc. (DAI) to lead in its search for a CEO. The search is being led by Sam Pettway, Crystal Stephens, and Patti Kish. The organization is seeking a leader who can help define what the next generation of Downtown Atlanta will become. This is a leadership opportunity of unusual scale and

BoardWalk Consulting Selected by Atlanta Ballet for Executive Director Search

BoardWalk Consulting was recently tapped by Atlanta Ballet to lead in its search for an executive director. The search is being led by Sam Pettway, Demeika Wheaton, and Patti Kish. The executive director will lead Atlanta Ballet’s administrative and business functions in alignment with the organization’s mission and values, while partnering closely with the artistic

BoardWalk Consulting Assists Trust for Public Land with CFO Search

Crystal Stephens and Terri Kohan of BoardWalk Consulting have assisted in the recruitment of Keysha Bailey as the new CFO of Trust for Public Land (TPL). “Keysha brings a rare combination of financial expertise, strategic vision, and a deep understanding of how to align resources with impact,” said Carrie Besnette Hauser, president and CEO of Trust for Public

BoardWalk Consulting

Press Releases

BoardWalk Consulting: recruiting civic leaders to Atlanta and beyond

In October 2012, Crystal Stephens was looking to lead an Atlanta nonprofit. A friend told her to visit with Sam Pettway, the founding director of BoardWalk Consulting, an Atlanta-based search firm specializing in the nonprofit sector. It didn’t take long for Pettway to ask Stephens if she would consider working for BoardWalk. Stephens had spent more than 17 years at

BoardWalk Consulting Welcomes Sarah Gaines as Director, Expanding National Reach and Deepening Nonprofit Leadership Expertise

January 21, 2026 BoardWalk Consulting, a national executive search firm exclusively focused on nonprofit and foundation leadership, is proud to announce that Sarah Gaines has joined the firm as Director. Her arrival marks the integration of her boutique search practice, JUNE Partners, into the BoardWalk platform, bringing together two values-driven firms with a shared commitment to excellence,

BoardWalk Consulting Names Crystal Stephens CEO, Marking a New Chapter of Growth and Impact

OCTOBER 1, 2025 – ATLANTA, GA – October 1, 2025 – BoardWalk Consulting, the national executive search firm devoted exclusively to the leadership of nonprofits and foundations, today announced that longtime colleague Crystal Stephens has been appointed Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, effective October 1, 2025. Stephens succeeds Sam Pettway, who founded BoardWalk in 2002 and will continue to

Cyril Turner named President of Year Up

MARCH 27, 2019 – After an extensive nationwide search, Year Up has named Cyril Turner as its next President. Turner will succeed Garett Moran, who led the organization’s growth and expansion for more than 5 years. Turner comes to Year Up from Delta Air Lines, Inc., where he was President of Delta Global Services and Delta Private

Leslie Gordon Announced As Executive Director of Breman Museum

JANUARY 28, 2019 – Concluding a wide-ranging national search, the Board of Directors of the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum has unanimously voted to appoint Leslie Gordon, a native of Savannah and an acclaimed Atlanta cultural leader, as its new Executive Director. She will start on February 4, 2019. Ms. Gordon has served as Director of the

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