McCormack+Kristel Recruits Chief People Officer for the Los Angeles LGBT Center
December 7, 2023 – Executive search firm McCormack+Kristel has assisted in the recruitment of Carlo Giovanni as the new chief people officer for the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which fights to advance civil rights and freedoms for LGBTQ people domestically and internationally through education, advocacy, and community organizing. Managing partner Michelle Kristel led the assignment. “Join us in congratulating Carlo Giovanni on his new role as the chief people officer at the Los Angeles LGBT Center,” McCormack+Kristel said. “In this role, Carlo will modernize and optimize people-centered experiences for employees and volunteers across the organization and work with staff throughout the organization to establish a culture that reflects the center’s values and DEI principles.”
With over 15 years of experience in human resources and organizational development, Mr. Giovanni is a senior executive professional who leads and manages organizational change, with an emphasis on developing culture, streamlining operations and business processes, and building the internal capacity of managers and supervisors to mentor and lead their teams.
Mr. Giovanni most recently served as vice president of people and culture for Southern California Public Radio. In this role, he led and managed organizational change, with an emphasis on developing culture, streamlining operations and business processes, building the internal capacity of managers and supervisors to mentor and lead their teams, and improving overall organizational effectiveness. Before that, Mr. Giovanna was executive director of HR at HCA Healthcare. Prior to that, he spent over 14 years in various senior HR position with the University of California, Los Angeles.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center also recently retained McCormack+Kristel to lead in its search for a new CFO. The search firm is seeking candidates with a passion for the center’s work and its mission to make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people. Reporting to the CEO, the CFO directly manages the accounting, finance, tax, cash, and business development functions of the center. Providing critical analysis and strategy development, the CFO is a trusted advisor to the CEO and board of directors and a key member of the senior executive team. This executive will thrive in analyzing complex financials and managing diverse revenue streams. They will be motivated to create efficiencies and driven to find solutions.
“This is an exceptional opportunity for a strategic finance leader to create a sustainable future for an organization that provides services for more LGBTQ+ people than any other organization in the world,” McCormack+Kristel said. The CFO must have demonstrated the ability to work effectively in a multicultural environment with people of diverse races, ethnicities, nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, socio-economic backgrounds, religions, ages, English-speaking abilities, immigration status, and physical abilities.
Related: The LGBTQ Center Long Beach Taps McCormack+Kristel to Find New Leader
Founded in 1969, the Los Angeles LGBT Center describes itself as “the world’s largest LGBT organization of any kind.” With 10 locations across Los Angeles, the non-profit’s nearly 800 employees and hundreds of volunteers offer programs, services, and global advocacy that span four broad categories: health, social services and housing, culture and education, and leadership and advocacy.
Veteran Search Consultants
McCormack+Kristel was started in 1993 as McCormack & Associates with the mission of recruiting senior leadership for the many research, advocacy and human services organizations growing exponentially in response to AIDS pandemic. Diversity recruiting has long been on the firm’s agenda.
McCormack+Kristel Recruits Executive Director for Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority
McCormack+Kristel has assisted in the recruitment of Va Lecia Adams Kellum as the new executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). Managing partner Michelle Kristel led the assignment. Heidi Marston resigned from the role in April due to disagreements with the agency’s board of commissioners over pay for lower-level staff. In September, Kristina Dixon and Molly Rysman, who served as acting co-executive directors since April, returned to their former roles with LAHSA, and Stephen David Simon, who heads the Los Angeles Department on Disability, was appointed interim executive director.
With the advent of effective treatments for HIV/AIDS, and the diminishing needs of many of these organizations, the firm broadened its client base into areas like social justice; healthcare; women’s issues; higher education; gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender; civil rights; and more.
Four years ago, founding partner Joseph A. McCormack formed a new business partnership with Ms. Kristel, who joined the firm in 2013 as an associate. The firm has offices in New York City and Palm Springs, CA. McCormack+Kristel clients have included the ACLU, the Los Angeles LGBT Center, TransForm, Planned Parenthood, SAGE, and the Tides Foundation, among others.
Last year, Mr. McCormack retired. Ms. Kristel continues to run the firm’s national practice. Ms. Kristel is the former executive director of In The Life Media (ITLM), a non-profit organization producing social change media to raise awareness of issues related to gender, HIV/AIDS, and LGBT rights.
Related: McCormack+Kristel Recruits Executive Director for Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
