NPAG Recruits CEO for Dream.Org
October 1, 2026 – Executive search firm NPAG has assisted in the recruitment of Janos Marton as the new CEO for Dream.Org in Oakland, CA. The search was being led by Phuong Quach and Sharon Gertsman.
Mr. Marton joined Dream.Org as CEO after spending the past five years leading advocacy work at the organization, where he helped build coalitions and advance criminal justice legislation across ideological and geographic lines. Earlier in his career, he worked at the ACLU and was involved in efforts tied to Occupy Wall Street and the campaign to close Rikers Island. He also ran for Manhattan district attorney in 2021 and more recently advised Zohran Mamdani’s transition on criminal justice issues.
Alvin Bragg, Manhattan district attorney, who ran against Mr. Marton in the 2021 Democratic primary for Manhattan DA and remains the borough’s elected district attorney, said: “You really get to know fellow candidates on the campaign trail, and I’ve always appreciated the passion and values Janos brings to the criminal justice movement, and the counsel he’s offered me in the years since as we strive to make New York a safer and fairer place. I wish him and Dream.Org success with today’s announcement.”
Jessica Jackson, CEO of REFORM Alliance and founder of Dream.Org’s justice program when it was known as #cut50, said: “I’ve worked alongside Janos for many years on criminal justice reform, and I’ve always been inspired by his ability to tackle tough challenges head-on and deliver real breakthroughs. He has the courage to stand by his core values while understanding that working across the aisle and building diverse coalitions is how we achieve lasting change. Dream.Org has an extraordinary legacy of changing lives. Janos has the experience and vision to build on that legacy and lead with the urgency this moment demands.”
Zephyr Teachout, professor of Law at Fordham Law School, who worked alongside Mr. Marton during Occupy Wall Street and whose scholarship focuses in part on corporate and political power, said: “Ever since meeting Janos as a young lawyer in the aftermath of Citizens United and working with him during Occupy Wall Street, I have known him to be someone who stands up to powerful interests and corruption, regardless of who is in power. In this moment, we need organizations like Dream.Org to stand up for regular people against the unchecked power of big tech companies, and with Janos as CEO, they’ll be in the hands of a strategic visionary, someone who is open-minded and willing to work across divides to get things done.”
Related: NPAG Seeking Executive Director for the California Youth Defender Center
Under Mr. Marton’s leadership, Dream.org will build on its criminal justice work while bringing a sharper focus to one of the defining challenges of the coming decade: holding the AI industry accountable and ensuring working people have a meaningful voice in shaping the policies that govern the technology.
Partnering with a Broad Range of Foundations and Non-Profits
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. They are 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.
Scaling Growth Through Transformative Talent
High-growth environments can compress time, magnify decisions, and expose leadership gaps in an instant. As companies move through periods of rapid expansion, the ability to build and evolve the right leadership team becomes increasingly critical to sustaining momentum and creating long-term value. Across private equity, venture capital, and technology-driven businesses, organizations are rethinking how they assess executive talent, strengthen leadership benches, and prepare teams for the demands of the next stage of growth. From founder-led recruiting and executive assessment to AI-enabled talent intelligence, cybersecurity leadership, and organizational design, the focus is shifting toward more deliberate, data-informed decisions about the people ultimately responsible for scaling the enterprise.
Hunt Scanlon Media will convene more than 250 private equity & venture capital operating partners, chief talent officers, and executive recruiters at The Marker Hotel in San Francisco on October 28, 2026. The program will explore how organizations across venture capital, private equity, and high-growth technology sectors are building the leadership infrastructure required to scale—examining how talent decisions, executive team design, and leadership assessment strategies are evolving to support sustained growth, innovation, and long-term enterprise value.
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Ms. Quach, principal, brings over 20 years of experience into this role with expertise in building community and networks, as well as a unique understanding of the landscape of challenges and assets in the field of philanthropy. In addition to executive search, she is also supporting philanthropic-serving organizations and networks on strategic growth and program design. Ms. Quach previously served as VP of member engagement at Northern California Grantmakers.
As a managing associate at NPAG, Ms. Gertsman focuses on bringing project management, client management, candidate stewardship, and strategy excellence to her search work. She has worked broadly across non-profit and particularly in funder spaces with institutional philanthropies, family philanthropies, philanthropy-serving organizations, community foundations, and intermediaries. As a part of her search work, Ms. Gertsman has engaged deeply in talent strategy, founder transitions, board development, and board-staff-executive leadership alignment work.
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
