Michelle R.S. Bonoan

Managing Director

With over 20 years of experience as a search consultant, Michelle has led executive searches across a wide range of industries and functions. As a specialist serving the education, nonprofit, and arts & culture sectors, Michelle has successfully completed searches for executives at the highest tiers, including CEO, President & Executive Director, Chief Financial Officer, fundraising leadership, program management and a wide range of other key positions.

Her clients are nationwide and include major clients dedicated to education, social services, arts and culture, children and family services, environment, and health-related issues, as well as prominent educational institutions such as research and private universities, small liberal arts colleges, and independent college preparatory schools.

Michelle has led searches for the American Red Cross, City of Hope, Covenant House of California, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Earthjustice, Claremont McKenna College, Pomona College, California Institute of Technology, Mills College, University of California, Crystal Stairs, Children’s Institute, Students Rising Above, Futures Against Violence, Marguerite Casey Foundation, AVID, CASA Los Angeles, Para Los Niños, the Walt Disney Family Foundation and Armand Hammer United World College of the American West.

Most recently Michelle was a Partner with Heidrick & Struggles, one of the top four global executive search firms where she was a core member of the Education, Nonprofit and Social Enterprise practice.  Michelle began her career in executive search in 1996 with a boutique retained executive search firm based in Los Angeles serving education institutions, nonprofit organizations and corporations nationwide. She established the firm’s practice exclusively serving education and nonprofit clients, and ultimately became Vice President and Education & Nonprofit Practice Leader. Later, she worked for a national search firm where she opened the Southern California office dedicated to the education and nonprofit sectors and strengthened that firm’s brand in the western region.

Solutions
  • Advisory Services
  • Assessment
  • Board Services
  • Career Services
  • Culture Shaping
  • Data Analy./Mrkt. Intell.
  • Executive Coaching
  • Executive Search
  • Executive Tracker
  • Interim
  • Leadership Develop.
  • Mgmt. Consulting
  • On-Demand Recruiting
  • Onboarding
  • Outplacement
  • Recruitment Research
  • Succession Planning
Functions
  • Board/Governance
  • Business Development
  • CEO/President
  • Communications/PR
  • Diversity & Inclusion
  • General Management
  • Human Resources