Pearl Street Collective Recruits Chief Development Officer for the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at University Of Massachusetts Amherst

April 1, 2024 – Virtually every industry needs top-drawer chief development officers. CDOs play a key role in planning, coordinating, and administering capital campaigns, corporate giving, and galvanizing new donors while keeping previous funders content. Implementing funding strategies that “keep the lights on,” according to recruiters specializing in the function, is job No. 1. Boston-based executive search firm Pearl Street Collective has assisted the UMass Amherst Foundation in the recruitment of Crystal Neuhauser as the new executive director of development and chief development officer for the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing at University of Massachusetts Amherst. Managing partner Adele Mezher led the assignment.

Ms. Neuhauser brings a 15+ year track record of fundraising for academic institutions including Yale University, Quinnipiac University, Franklin Pierce University, and most recently Bay Path University where she served as vice president of institutional advancement.

In her new role, Ms. Neuhauser is partnering closely with Dean Allison Vorderstrasse to advance the Elaine Marieb College of Nursing toward collaborative, interdisciplinary and thematic giving opportunities that will significantly increase private support.

Women-owned and operated Pearl Street Collective, founded in 2019, provides high-touch executive search and talent strategy services to identify purpose-driven leaders for the non-profit sector. Operating out of main offices in Boston and San Diego, CA with team members around the country, the firm supports organizations in higher education, arts and culture, social justice, human services, philanthropy, health, and more. Pearl Street was named by Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy as the Top Search Firm for Women of Color for two consecutive years.

The firm is led by co-founders and managing partners Ms. Mezher and Maeve Clifford. Ms. Mezher brings nearly 30 years of leadership in executive search to her role as co-founder and managing partner of Pearl Street. Highly skilled in strategic marketing and business development, she began her search career implementing programs that supported new market entry and practice expansion before assuming a search portfolio of CEO and vice president-level engagements on behalf of the Fortune 500 and venture/private equity portfolio companies in technology and industrial manufacturing.

Ms. Clifford has more than 20 years of blended non-profit and executive search leadership to her role as co-founder and managing partner of Pearl Street. In addition to search management, she has led built, trained, and guided research teams for multiple search firms in the non-profit and for-profit sectors, and was an integral contributor to the launch of two national search firms before establishing Pearl Street. Her non-profit career includes functional roles at Harvard University, a charter school network, and a community non-profit, as well as board experience.

Recent Searches for Development Officers

A number of search firms have been called in to lead development officer searches for various organizations in recent months, here is a sampling from the Hunt Scanlon Media newswire archives:

Greenbrae, CA-based Cook Silverman Search has been selected by Quantum Leap Healthcare Collaborative in San Francisco to lead its search for a chief development officer. The organization is seeking an experienced chief development officer, who will be responsible for planning, executing and evaluating all fundraising and development initiatives. The CDO will establish fundraising priorities and objectives; create fundraising strategies to meet specific program goals; identify and profile current and prospective individual, business, and foundation prospects; develop and cultivate positive relationships with donors and prospects; and solicit and steward major donors.

Boston-based Pearl Street Collective has assisted in the recruitment of Laura Perez Hamilton as chief development officer of Treehouse, a Seattle, WA-based non-profit focused on the specific educational needs of youth in foster care. Ms. Perez Hamilton brings over 20 years of advancement and development leadership including major gift fundraising experience to her new role. She most recently served as the chief advancement officer for Northwest Harvest where she led a 20+ person team focused on philanthropy, community engagement, communications, and volunteer management. In her new position with Treehouse, Ms. Perez Hamilton will primarily be responsible for directing a growing development program that ensures that the organization meets its strategic and financial goals through philanthropy and communications, and for working intentionally with the team to lead all engagement relationships through an equity lens, utilizing the principles of community-centric fundraising.

Following a national search Dallas-based executive search and talent development firm Bryant Group has assisted in the recruitment of Jessica Chapman as chief development officer at Target ALS. Sarah Hempen, vice president, led the assignment. “We are thrilled to welcome Jessica Chapman to Target ALS as our chief development officer,” said Manish Raisinghani, CEO of Target ALS. “Her distinguished expertise in leading development initiatives for research-focused missions along with her profound commitment to the ALS community make her an excellent addition to our team. Together, we will enable innovation in ALS research, advancing effective treatments to realize a world where everyone lives.” An experienced fundraiser in development and charitable gift-giving, Ms. Chapman brings a wealth of knowledge to the position. She spent seven years with The ALS Association, serving as their director of planned giving, senior director of individual giving, vice president of development and most recently as their vice president of mission equalities.

Related: Pearl Street Collective Seeks Two CDOs for University of Massachusetts Amherst Foundation

Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor; Lily Fauver, Senior Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media