Cooper Coleman LLC

About Us

Cooper Coleman is a full-service recruiting and consulting firm partnering exclusively with nonprofit organizations, foundations, and research and academic institutions to drive meaningful growth. We move organizations forward by placing the right leaders in the right roles at the right time, and we help to strengthen management and fundraising capacity to amplify their mission and impact.

We work with organizations of all sizes locally, nationally, and globally. Our practical, actionable, strategic approach helps our partner organizations achieve durable solutions and sustainable growth.

We represent our partners as if we are a member of their team—with passion, integrity, and a deep understanding of their challenges and opportunities. We intuitively know what makes the work they do unique and essential.

We are an LGBTQ+ owned business that embraces demographic, experiential, sexual, and cultural inclusion. We believe everyone is better when leadership reflects the diversity of its people and when an organization reflects the diversity of those it serves.

Cooper Coleman LLC

Our Team

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The Team Moving You Forward!
An ever-growing cadre of incredibly talented professionals extends the capacity and capabilities of our team. They include recruiters and organizational development experts, frontline fundraisers, planned giving experts, communicators, marketers, designers—each of whom has been hand-selected from our previous work experience and meets our rigorous expectations for performance, expertise, and continued professional development. Meet a few of them below.

Cooper Coleman LLC

Solutions And Expertise

We take extraordinary measures to preserve dignity in the recruiting experience. Recognizing there is a person behind each resume, we treat each candidate with humanity, clarity, and respect—as the assets they are to our sector, the third-largest driver of the U.S. economy.

The right leaders in the right roles are essential for success. The most successful organizations do not settle on their leaders, they strategically and meaningfully choose each one.

Recruiting the best candidates can be protracted and time-consuming. For that reason, we do the heavy lifting to find your ideal candidate, so you can focus on other priorities. We help organizations assess their unique needs to build a comprehensive profile of the professionals they require. We leverage our extensive network of passive and active candidates throughout the sector to place the right leaders in the roles most essential to your success.

Solutions
  • Advisory Services
  • Culture Shaping
  • Executive Coaching
  • Executive Search
  • Interim
  • Leadership Consulting
  • Leadership Develop.
  • Mgmt. Consulting
  • Org. Chart Mapping
  • Succession Planning
Industries
  • Associations
  • Colleges/Universities
  • Cultural Arts
  • Education
  • Foundations
  • K-12
  • Non-Profit
Functions
  • Board/Governance
  • Business Development
  • CEO/President
  • Development
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • General Management
  • GM/Operations
  • Human Resources
  • Marketing & Sales

Cooper Coleman LLC

News Briefings

Cooper Coleman Expands Search Staff

Chicago-based Cooper Coleman LLC has expanded with the additions of Ben Bisbee and J. Michael Durnil as directors of executive search. “These new appointments come at a time of significant expansion for Cooper Coleman, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to driving meaningful growth and impact for non-profit organizations,” the search firm said. “Driven by their core values of

Cooper Coleman Recruits New Leader for ReVive Center for Housing and Healing

Chicago-based Cooper Coleman LLC has assisted in the recruitment of Kesha Larkins as the new executive director of ReVive Center for Housing and Healing in Chicago. Ms. Larkins is a seasoned non-profit leader with a track record in fundraising, operational management, and program development. With a commitment to trauma-sensitive care, she has dedicated her career to making

Cooper Coleman Seeking New Leader for the Kalamazoo Nature Center

Kathy Kraushar of Chicago-based Cooper Coleman LLC is currently at the final stages of its search for a new president and CEO for the Kalamazoo Nature Center in Michigan. The CEO is responsible for all financial, operational, administrative, and legal/compliance aspects of organizational management, including but not limited to public relations, financial management, fundraising, organizational development, and

Cooper Coleman Recruits CEO for the Montrose Center

Following an extensive national executive search that began in August, Chicago-based Cooper Coleman LLC has assisted in the recruitment of Avery Belyeu as the new CEO of the Montrose Center in Houston, TX. Past CEO Ann J. Robison recently retired. “We are so excited to select Avery Belyeu to lead the Montrose Center for the next generation,” said Tara

Cooper Coleman LLC

Press Releases

Cooper Coleman Expands Executive Search Team With Veteran Nonprofit Leaders, Ben Bisbee and Dr. J. Michael Durnil

Chicago, IL – Cooper Coleman LLC, a national boutique nonprofit-focused executive search firm, welcomes two new Directors of Executive Search: Ben Bisbee and J. Michael Durnil, Ph.D. These new appointments come at a time of significant expansion for Cooper Coleman, reinforcing the firm’s commitment to driving meaningful growth and impact for nonprofit organizations. Ben Bisbee

COOPER COLEMAN LLC FACILITATES SEMINAL APPOINTMENT OF AVERY BELYEU AS CEO OF HOUSTON’S MONTROSE CENTER

March 1, 2024 9:00 AM Central Standard Time CHICAGO, IL – Cooper Coleman LLC, a leader in retained executive search for the nonprofit sector, is proud to announce the successful placement of Avery Belyeu as the new Chief Executive Officer of the Montrose Center, one of the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ centers. This appointment follows a

Cooper Coleman Announces Executive Search Veteran John Toolan As Vice President

October 12, 2023 – LOS ANGELES, CA – Cooper Coleman LLC, a national boutique nonprofit executive search firm, welcomed John Toolan as vice president, executive search. Toolan, with his remarkable passion for the nonprofit sector and vast experience in advancement and executive search, is poised to significantly contribute to the growing firm’s continued success. For more

Cooper Coleman Places John E. Roane, Jr. as Chief Operating Officer of Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund

CHICAGO, IL – Cooper Coleman LLC has placed John Roane as Chief Operating Officer (COO) at New York City-based Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund (Lambda Legal). A national search led by Johnny Cooper, Founder and Principal of the growing firm, identified Roane, an accomplished nonprofit executive specializing in building and continually improving organizational operations

Cooper Coleman Names Tony Paskauskas Chief Operating Officer

(April 20, 2022) Cooper Coleman LLC has appointed veteran nonprofit operations executive, Tony Paskauskas, as COO, a new role at the firm, to scale the firm’s business operations and finance capabilities and extend its executive search and consulting capacities. Paskauskas most recently led the operations, logistics, customer service, and donor stewardship functions behind a $305

Cooper Coleman LLC

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