NPAG Appoints Senior Advisor
September 18, 2026 – Executive search firm NPAG has appointed André Blackman as senior advisor. In this new role, he will build and lead a practice focused on mission-driven innovation — connecting dynamic leadership talent and the development resources to keep that talent in seat, to founders and organizations solving problems that matter.
“André brings a rare combination of strategic insight, storytelling and ecosystem intuition to this work,” said Allison Kupfer Poteet, managing partner at NPAG. “At NPAG, we know the right leadership transforms what’s possible for a mission. Through Onboard Health, Andre has helped digital health innovators find leaders who can build bold new models while staying accountable to the communities those models are meant to serve. His commitment to equitable, people-centered process fits naturally with our ethos, and his expertise opens new ways for us to support venture philanthropy and health innovation.”
Mr. Blackman joins NPAG after founding and leading Onboard Health, a nationally recognized executive search and ecosystem platform connecting underrepresented talent to transformative opportunities in health innovation. He previously served as a partner at True Search within the healthcare & life sciences practice as well as assisting in the launch of the non-profit & social impact practice. His work has been featured in Business Insider, Fortune, Forbes, NPR, CIO, Reporting on Health and U.S. News & World Report, and he was named to Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in Healthcare in 2020.
As an advisor, talent strategist and executive coach with 15+ years at the intersection of healthcare innovation and social impact ecosystems, Mr. Blackman’s work has consistently focused on building the future through an equity lens. He is passionate about equipping leaders and organizations with the tools, relationships, and strategy needed to create meaningful, scalable outcomes.
“I chose NPAG because it’s rare to find a search firm this far into its existence – nearly 25 years – that’s still exclusively impact-focused and still leads with real values,” said Mr. Blackman. “Their track record of successful placements along with a deep reputation in the philanthropic, impact and social justice spaces are absolutely critical and deeply aligned with how I want to show up in this next chapter. I get to bring the ecosystem I spent years building at Onboard Health and over the course of my career, into that trusted infrastructure.”
Related: NPAG Seeking Executive Director for the California Youth Defender Center
Since 2002, NPAG is a national executive search and consulting firm dedicated to supporting justice movement leadership. The firm has partnered with a broad range of foundations and non-profits working in racial and gender equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive health, democracy preservation, public health, economic justice, climate, and other social justice movements.
Women-Owned and Led
The firm is a women-owned and women-led firm with a diverse team of 20+ professionals, and have completed over 1,400 searches – including many hundreds at the CEO/executive director level – nationally and globally over nearly 25 years. In addition to search, NPAG provide bespoke training and capacity building, outplacement, board facilitation and development, and both team and individual leadership coaching services.
Private Equity Recruiting – Return on Investment: Creating Value with Talent
Talent has become a defining driver of performance in private equity, shaping how firms manage risk, execute strategy, and deliver sustained returns. As deal cycles tighten and value creation depends increasingly on operational excellence, leadership quality and organizational design are no longer secondary considerations — they are central to how firms source, underwrite, and scale investments. From talent diligence and CEO succession to team integration and leadership development, human capital decisions now influence outcomes across the entire investment lifecycle.
Hunt Scanlon Media will convene more than 250 private equity operating partners, chief talent officers, and executive recruiters at the Hilton in Chicago on September 29, 2026. The program will explore how firms are elevating human capital into a core driver of investment outcomes—redefining how leadership is assessed, built, and deployed across the portfolio to support growth, execution, and long-term value creation.
To register for Hunt Scanlon Media’s upcoming conference please click here!
As managing partner, Ms. Kupfer is NPAG’s chief executive, leading business strategy and refinement of best practices and systems to support excellence in all aspects of the firm’s work. A seasoned search practitioner of 20 years exclusive to the mission-driven sector, she brings deep experience designing and facilitating rigorous, inclusive processes that lead to transformative results. Her clients span philanthropy, policy and advocacy, evaluation and learning, direct service, conveners, and other innovative social changemakers.
Related: NPAG Assists Proteus Fund with CEO Search
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
