Isaacson, Miller Appoints Chief People Officer
February 19, 2025 – Boston-based Isaacson, Miller has appointed Shari Chernack as its chief people officer. With over 20 years of experience in human resources, organizational effectiveness, and business transformation, she is responsible for aligning people and culture practices with the firm’s business objectives, fostering a high-performance environment for team members.
Ms. Chernack will steward talent lifecycle strategies and plans that continue to evolve our culture, policies, and practices to meet the workforce and workplace challenges of a matrixed, high-growth, employee-owned professional service enterprise. In collaboration with the firm’s leadership, P+C team, and other colleagues, she will develop compelling people solutions; enhance performance assessment to ensure that we are measuring what matters; help to ensure workforce well-being; integrate equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging principles into our talent culture and practices; and cultivate talent growth and development.
Throughout her career, Ms. Chernack has held leadership positions in both corporate and consulting environments, most recently serving as a consultant at Mercer, where she partnered with clients around HR, organizational, and workforce transformation. Her experience spans a wide range of organizations, including Fortune 100 companies, nonprofits, private equity and venture capital portfolio companies, and founder-owned businesses. Ms. Chernack is passionate about championing a people-first culture, leveraging data-driven insights and collaborative input to inform strategic decision-making, and creating HR and talent programs that drive engagement, high performance, and a sense of belonging.
“I’m grateful and excited for the opportunity,” said Ms. Chernack. “I’m joining a team of smart, accomplished, mission-driven colleagues at a firm that has demonstrated excellence in executive search for over four decades. Isaacson, Miller’s commitment to advancing leadership in purpose-led organizations deeply resonates with my personal values.”
A nationally recognized search firm focused on recruiting transformational leaders for mission-driven organizations, Isaacson, Miller has conducted thousands of placements over more than three decades. More than half of the firm’s work has been in academia, involving university presidents, college chancellors and deans. The firm has filled top leadership posts at Wellesley College, Washington State University, Miami University, Howard University, Bowdoin College, Dartmouth, NYU, Virginia State University, and the University of North Carolina, among others.
Related: The Bruce Taps Isaacson, Miller to Find New Executive Director
John Isaacson, the firm’s chair, founded Isaacson, Miller in 1982. He has led searches in many areas of the firm’s practice. Mr. Isaacson has helped the firm develop its cumulative knowledge of the craft of search and has attended, with increasing interest, to the missionary purposes of institutions, the political and economic disciplines of specialized markets, and the emotional and intellectual learnings that leaders acquire in a committed working life.
Recent Assignment
Isaacson, Miller recently assisted in the recruitment of Kimo Ah Yun as the 25th president of Marquette University. He is the first person of color to lead Marquette and the Catholic, Jesuit university’s second lay president in its 143-year history. Vice president and director Julie Filizetti, partner Phillip Petree, and senior associate Rafael Escobedo, led the assignment. Past president Michael Lovell recently died after a three-year battle with cancer.
“Dr. Kimo Ah Yun is a proven leader who has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to Marquette University’s Catholic, Jesuit mission, vision and values,” said Todd Adams, board chair. “As provost and acting president, he has been a leader in the university’s proactive efforts toward continuous improvement to ensure Marquette thrives for generations to come. Marquette is in a strong position in a challenging environment for higher education, and the board of trustees has full confidence in his ability to provide the stability necessary to lead Marquette forward to achieve our vision of being among the most innovative and accomplished Catholic, Jesuit universities in the world.”
Dr. Ah Yun’s unanimous election by the board of trustees is the culmination of an intensive search process led by the board of trustees and an 11-person search committee that began in July. The search committee and executive search firm Isaacson, Miller conducted a national review of higher education leaders and recruited a pool of candidates that included sitting presidents, provosts, deans and members of the Society of Jesus.
Related: Dartmouth College Retains Isaacson, Miller to Find New Provost
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
