The Bowdoin Group Forms Alliance with QPS to Further DE&I Initiatives

October 13, 2020 – Search firms continue to step up their diversity and inclusion efforts. The latest: The Bowdoin Group, a Boston-based executive recruitment firm, formed a strategic partnership with the diversity, equity and inclusion service provider Quantum Power Skills (QPS).
“This has been and continues to be a business imperative for us, both internally and external for our clients,” said Dave Melville, founder and CEO of The Bowdoin Group. “We have worked hard to understand what we as a firm can do to improve ourselves and the market around us, but we can no longer afford to continue with business as usual. We must leverage and embrace the principles around DE&I to create the highest performing companies and teams we can; that’s our job.”
2020 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Recruiting Report:
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“We are excited about this partnership for multiple reasons,” said Scott Aldsworth, president of The Bowdoin Group. “By formally training our team and continuing to foster a truly diversified and inclusive culture, our team will be better prepared to have thoughtful conversations around DE&I with our clients. We know this won’t be easy, but we are excited for the opportunity to implement real change across our ecosystem, starting with our organization and our clients to help empower emerging leaders.”
QPS, a transformative DE&I specialty management consulting firm, partners closely with clients across the U.S. to provide a range of DE&I solutions, creating customized plans using their strategic framework to enable organizations to meet their business goals. Bowdoin has kicked off an ongoing engagement with QPS to focus on internal improvements around awareness and education, as well as to make a positive impact on the vertical markets they serve. The firm plans to partner with QPS to offer clients diversity immersion, equity advancement and inclusion solutions. The solutions include workforce assessments, talent sourcing and development strategies, and industry benchmarking, among others.
“The future of work is here, and the competition for diverse talent, combined with a burgeoning focus on cultivating a culture of true inclusion is top of mind for every company we are working with,” said Esu Ma’at, a co-founder and head of diversity equity and inclusion at QPS. “The Bowdoin Group has shown itself to be a world-class recruiting organization, and through our initial assessment, I know they live and breathe their value of ‘doing the right thing.’ They have shown serious commitment to improving upon the foundation they have already created, and we look forward to building a strong partnership with Dave and the team.”
Related: Recruiters Up Their Game in Diversity
Founded in 1994, The Bowdoin Group specializes in leadership and strategic roles for a wide range of companies, from small firms building out their executive team to large firms sourcing talent for rapid market expansion. With deep expertise in biopharma, digital health, fintech and financial services, and software, the firm specializes in the Greater Boston area with the ability to source talent and service companies globally.
Recent Growth
Last week, The Bowdoin Group expanded its core team with two new strategic hires, including the expansion of its research team and finance department in the last quarter. Tracie-Jo (TJ) Crowthers joins the firm as a consultant, bringing with her several years of experience leading client engagements and managing candidates through the recruitment process. Christine Lipowski has also joined the firm as a consultant bringing significant expertise in executive search with several years of market research, search strategy, and candidate engagement experience.
Why Smart CEOs are Hiring Executives During COVID-19
Over the past six months, The Bowdoin Group has completed several executive searches with venture- and private equity-backed companies. Although the majority of the firm’s clients and their investors expressed some degree of concern kicking off the assignments, according to the firm’s Sean Walker, “as we moved through each successful placement, it became clear that COVID-19 has not necessarily changed executive search fundamentally – it has only moved the processes and tools we use to build trust and relationships into a digital format.”
In addition to these two strategic hires, The Bowdoin Group added three new associates earlier this summer, including Amber Graves, Marcus Witherspoon and Gabrielle Kontra, and a new staff accountant, Jessica Wright, to provide additional support to the firm’s finance team.
“We are fortunate to bring all of these new team members onboard at such a unique time in the world as we continue to support strong growth at The Bowdoin Group,” said Dave Melville, founder and CEO. “Each individual is a great addition to the team and brings a perspective and set of skills that will help us continue our expansion across the life sciences, healthcare, and technology sectors.”
Related: To Improve Diversity, Recruiting Sector Must Set a New Course
Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief; Dale M. Zupsansky, Managing Editor; and Stephen Sawicki, Managing Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media