Koya Leadership Partners Tapped to Find Chief Talent and Equity Officer for Children’s Law Center
February 5, 2020 – Koya Leadership Partners has been retained by the Children’s Law Center (CLC) in Washington, D.C., to lead the search for a chief talent and equity officer, a newly created position for the organization. Leading the assignment for the executive search firm are Miecha Ranea Forbes, senior vice president of culture, inclusion and strategic advising, and Christy Farrell, vice president of executive search.
The chief talent and equity officer will serve as a member of CLC’s leadership team and will partner with other senior leaders to drive the organization forward. “This role is ideal for a leader who is committed to social justice, who views all things through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion, and who sees talent management as a key lever for improving internal culture,” said Koya Leadership Partners.
The individual will be expected to lead CLC’s commitment and strategy to be a diverse, anti-racist, equitable, and inclusive organization with solid talent and HR policies, practices and procedures that undergird all of its work. The chief talent and equity officer must be a strategist, a content expert and a collaborative partner with other senior leadership team members as they think through how to best weave diversity, equity and inclusion into the fabric of all the organization’s efforts.
Attracting Diverse Talent
At the role’s core, the chief talent and equity officer creates strategic alignment between the organization’s goals and values and the people who implement them, said Koya Leadership Partners. The individual must realize that attracting and keeping diverse talent creates a positive, creative and affirming culture. This individual will serve as the organization’s resident expert and thought leader on all areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, and talent among their colleagues internally. He or she will be expected to be an expert and leader of CLC’s talent and diversity, equity and inclusion strategies while leading a team responsible for the implementation of these strategies organization-wide.
Ideal candidates will have significant experience advancing both a diversity, equity and inclusion plan/program and various talent-related programs within an organization that includes many internal and external stakeholders, said the search firm. They should have an understanding of, sensitivity to, and respect for diverse racial, socio-economic, ethnic, academic, religious and cultural backgrounds as well as identities – gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, etc. of staff.
The right candidate will have significant experience in talent management and an understanding of labor and employment law. The individual will possess a minimum of seven years of leadership experience with a plus being prior experience in a non-profit setting.
Founded 23 years ago, the Children’s Law Center reaches more than 5,000 children and families each year, including one of every nine children living in Washington, D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods. Judges, pediatricians and families turn to the organization to advocate for children who are abused or neglected, who aren’t learning in school or who have health problems that can’t be solved by medicine alone. Using the expertise and experience the non-profit gains from working with so many children, CLC advocates with the mayor and city council for systemic solutions. The organization works closely with hundreds of pro bono lawyers, pediatricians and social justice allies.
Respected Recruiters
Boston-based Koya Leadership Partners is an executive search and strategic advising firm dedicated to connecting talent with mission-driven clients. The firm partners with non-profits and NGOs, institutions of higher education, responsible businesses, and social enterprises in local communities and around the world. It was recently acquired by Diversified Search of Philadelphia.
Hunt Scanlon Top 50 Non-Profit & Higher Education Search Firms
Hunt Scanlon presents its first ever roundup of leading recruiters in the non-profit / higher education sectors. Check out these top 50 trailblazers – ranging from the largest recruiting and talent leadership solutions firms to the leading boutique specialists.
| Top 50 |
Ms. Ranea Forbes, who is also managing director of Diversified Search, brings a unique combination of human capital, executive search and consulting experience from both the non-profit and private sectors. She is the primary lead for Koya’s human capital consulting practice and has deep experience in education and youth development. The basis of her work is to help organizations solve their most complex people challenges to achieve strategic goals. With her background in organizational development and talent management, Ms. Ranea Forbes currently engages with clients on founder transitions; succession; talent acquisition; manager training and coaching; performance management; diversity, equity and inclusion; culture and employee engagement; and compensation.
Ms. Farrell focuses on leading senior-level searches for a wide range of mission -driven organizations across the country. Prior to Koya, she served as a partner for 12 years at ThinkingAhead Executive Search, focusing on serving clients and candidates in healthcare analytics and quality. Her clients included AmeriHealth Caritas, Cedar Gate Technologies and Medalogix.
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
