Development Guild DDI Appoints President and COO

January 31, 2020 – Executive recruitment firm Development Guild DDI, which focuses on the non-profit sector, has named Victoria Jones as president and Deborah Brown as chief operating officer.

“I’m delighted to share that Victoria Jones is our new president,” said CEO Suzanne Weber. “Victoria’s new role along with the promotion of Deb Brown to COO will drive our continuous evolution as trusted, innovative partners to non-profit leaders.”

Ms. Jones joined Development Guild 20 years ago and has served as the firm’s executive vice president for the past seven years. Her consulting is noted for the transformative campaigns and fundraising programs she designs and the visionary leaders she recruits, said the firm. She will be the second president in the firm’s history, succeeding co-founder William Weber, who’s taking on a new role.

Ms. Jones also serves as Development Guild’s fundraising practice leader, designing and directing organizational strategy, fundraising and executive search engagements. She has a particular focus on campaigns and major gift initiatives, systems design, and the build out of complex fundraising teams and practices. Through her work, she has crafted well-tested, evidence-based models of return on investment, goals and projections, and business plans. Her clients include Barnard College, Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, Blair Academy, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Trust Boston, Montefiore Medicine, Noble and Greenough School, Regis College, St. Mark’s School, Storm King Art Center, Vassar College and WBUR.

Ms. Brown joined Development Guild 20 years ago and has served as its senior vice president of finance and administration for the past eight years. As the first COO in the firm’s history, she will continue to bring her financial and administrative expertise to bear on the firm’s operational success. Bringing more than 20 years of experience to her role, Ms. Brown directs the firm in its administrative and management functions, including accounting and finance, contracts and proposals, human resources, technology and contracts.

Veteran Recruiters

Development Guild DDI, which has offices in New York and Boston, was founded in 1978. The firm helps clients align leadership around a strategic vision with its planning, executive search and fundraising services. The firm works with non-profits nationwide, partnering with leaders in academic medicine, higher education, arts and culture, human services and others.

Development Guild’s clients, which number more than 500, have included: Boston Children’s Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Tufts Medical Center, Corcoran Gallery of Art, Holocaust Memorial Museum, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, College of the Holy Cross, Partners in Health, University of Rhode Island Foundation, Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Cancer Society.

Leadership Appointments Rising at Search Firms

Top leadership appointments have been gaining traction at executive search firms over the past year. Here’s a look at several examples taken from the Hunt Scanlon Media archives:

CyberSN, a boutique search firm serving talent needs in cybersecurity, appointed Mark Aiello as its new president. “Choosing a president for a firm that has a very special family culture which focuses on productivity and love was easy when I met Mark,” said Deidre Diamond, CEO and founder of CyberSN. “Mark shares the same passion that drives us at CyberSN — the care of the cybersecurity community. Care of the community means building technology to speak their language, using technology to make great matches and providing career support along the way,” she said. “We care about the cyber professional and Mark does too.”

Dubai-headquartered Pedersen & Partners named Gary Williams as its new CEO replacing founder Poul Pedersen who will assume the role of executive chairman. As CEO, Mr. Williams will have full P&L responsibility and lead the firm. As executive chairman, Mr. Pedersen will continue working full-time for Pedersen & Partners.

Global recruiting organization Amrop has appointed Federico Cuneo as CEO and chairman of its executive board. He replaced José I. Leyún as CEO. As an executive board member of the Amrop Partnership, and a partner and director of Amrop Peru, Panama, Costa Rica and Ecuador since 2005, Mr. Cuneo brings organizational experience, entrepreneurial energy and a global perspective to the role.

The RSA Group, which is based in London and focuses on the life sciences sector, has appointed executive chairman Nick Stephens as its CEO. Alex Bennett recently stepped down from the top post.  Mr. Stephens has been with RSA since 1986 and leads the firm’s board services practice, handling about five or six C-level assignments each year. 

U.K.-headquartered executive search firm VMAGROUP has appointed Andrew Harvey as CEO. He succeeds Julia Meighan, who moves into the role of chair. Mr. Harvey came to the firm in 2013, and for the last two years has been U.K. executive director, responsible for the growth and development of all aspects of the U.K. business.

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

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