Koya Leadership Partners and Neumann Executive Search Merge
June 12, 2017 – Since the start of the year, the search industry has seen a number of mergers. Some involve national expansion, while others are about global reach. Many of the consolidations provide greater solution possibilities for customers who want a full suite of talent management services. The latest: Koya Leadership Partners is merging Neumann Executive Search Partners into its operations, expanding the firm’s depth and breadth of focus on higher education recruiting. Terms were not disclosed.
Neumann Executive Search Partners, launched in September 2016, specializes in recruiting senior leaders for colleges and universities across the U.S. The firms’ partners have decades of experience in higher education and have worked with clients such as Emory University, Penn State, Dartmouth College and Cornell University. Search partners Liz Neumann, Beth Schaefer, Andy Evans and Amy Sugin will be moving their practices to Koya. Joining them will be several members of the Neumann team.
Ms. Neumann has nearly 30 years of experience in financial management, organizational consulting and executive search. She leads searches in areas that include business, budget, finance & administration, human resources, information technology, and strategy for higher education, medical and research organizations.
Ms. Neumann said, “Koya and Neumann have so much in common: A deep commitment to the sector and our work, a strong focus on collaboration and team building, and a focus on continual learning and improvement. Merging our practices will allow us to double down in all of these areas and increase the quality of service that we’re providing.”
Some of Neumann’s Other Recent Appointments:
Neumann Executive Search Partners has been retained by both Fordham University and Clark University to fill their top human resources posts. The executive will be in charge of the development and implementation of HR policies and practices that advance the educational, operational, and administrative objectives of the school.
New York University has retained Neumann Executive Search Partners to find its next chief financial officer. The senior vice president for finance and budget / CFO is the senior leadership position at NYU charged with the oversight of the finances of the university and for related operational and strategic planning responsibilities.
Neumann Executive Search Partners has been retained by Ithaca College to lead in a national search for a chief inclusion and diversity officer. The incoming diversity leader will support Ithaca’s continuing efforts toward increase diversity and inclusive excellence for the school’s community.
Combined Search Services
“I have long admired the work of Liz Neumann and her team,” said Katie Bouton, Koya founder and CEO. “They represent a leading force in higher education recruitment, which marries well with Koya’s existing higher education practice and allows us to scale and grow to meet the needs of this important market.”
“Combining our talent, resources and networks allows us to enrich the quality and enhance the impact and breadth of our work,” said Ms. Neumann. “Joining Koya is an exciting opportunity and positions long-term sustainability of our continued service to higher education.”
Tapping Both Worlds
In the not-too-distant past, few executive search firms built their businesses around serving non-profit organizations. These days, as the sector expands, well outpacing for-profit enterprise growth over the last decade, non-profits have become one of headhunting’s hottest markets. Working in the sector is finding greater appeal among business leaders and employment opportunities at non-profits are coming just in time for recruiters who have been challenged by dwindling talent pools. In response, recruiters have had to double down in their efforts to better address the needs of their non-profit clients.
One of those firms is Koya Leadership Partners, an executive search and human capital consulting firm that works exclusively with non-profits and social enterprises. It has developed a national reputation for identifying executive directors and CEOs across the sector for clients, including The Art Institute of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University, The Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation, Foundation for a Just Society, Hudson Webber Foundation, Natural Resources Defense Council, Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania, the Barack Obama Foundation, California State University San Marcos, American Red Cross of Chicago & Northern Illinois, Glazer Children’s Museum, Make-A-Wish Foundation and Tourette Association of America, US Human Rights Network, among others.
Last year was one of the most successful in the firm’s history, dating back to its founding in 2004. Koya’s 40 consultants working from offices in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles posted revenues of $8 million, a 33 percent rise from the previous year. “Non-profit, higher education, and corporate social responsibility are the highest growth sectors in our field,” said Ms. Bouton. “CEO, COO, chief human resources officer (CHRO) and chief fundraising officer roles are a continual talent need in our sector.”
Koya expanded its team in 2016 in Chicago, led by managing director Alison P. Ranney, and in Los Angeles, led by Michelle R.S. Bonoan, by adding a number of key consultants. Founding partner Molly Brennan also continued to expand Koya’s footprint in the social justice and advocacy sectors. Searches completed in this area include those for Amnesty International USA and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, among a host of others.
Mergers and Partnerships Continue In the Search Industry
In May, Buffkin / Baker merged New York-based WTW Associates into its expanding executive recruiting platform. WTW, a talent provider focused on the media, entertainment, technology and law industries, will integrate its operations into the Buffkin / Baker New York office. Warren Wasp, who founded WTW Associates in 1987, became a partner of the firm and will head its entertainment/ media practice.
Recently, London-headquartered executive search firm Hedley May and New York-based Exchange Place Partners merged. The alliance creates a globally-oriented search firm, and Exchange Place will retain the Hedley May name. The merger allows the newly combined operations to execute senior functional and leadership searches for multinational companies, financial institutions, professional services firms and regulatory clients around the world.
Vancouver, BC-based executive search firm Goldbeck Recruiting recently joined forces with Merc Saudi, an international recruitment firm headquartered in Guadalajara, Mexico with extensive recruiting operations throughout Latin America and the Middle East. Merc provides recruiting services to an expansive number of sectors, including accounting & finance, automotive, banking, business support, constructive & engineering, facilities management, financial services, human resources, IT & telecommunications, insurance, legal, and logistics & supply chain. Goldbeck’s team specializes in placements from eight recruitment divisions, sales & marketing, engineering & skilled trades, healthcare & biotech, accounting & finance, industrial & construction, production & operations, information technology, and executive search.
In February, La Fosse formed an alliance with Intelligent Partners, a provider of research and education on alternative investments. Through the partnership, La Fosse will serve as a “talent partner” to the firm. Intelligent Partners turned to the search firm, it said, because of the recruiters’ expertise in the technology and digital sectors.
SRiCheyenne was recently launched following the January merger of U.S.-based media and content recruitment provider, Cheyenne Group, and UK-headquartered SRi (formerly Sports Recruitment International).
Also in January, executive search firms Thomas Thor Associates, B.V. and KeySource HCI, LLC merged their nuclear industry business interests in the Americas and formed a company called KeySource Thomas Thor, which focuses on providing executive search services to the entire life-cycle of nuclear providers in North and South America and will be headquartered in Hudson, OH. The combined firm will also have access to the global network of Thomas Thor Associates with operations in Europe and the Middle East.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor; and Chase Barbe, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
