Vetted Solutions Assists the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants with CEO Search
November 19, 2024 – Washington, D.C.- based Vetted Solutions has helped to place James Edmund Datri as the new president and CEO of the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC). He will start his new position at the beginning of 2025. An accomplished leader with a track record of transforming and elevating professional organizations, Mr. Datri was selected following a rigorous global search led by a committee of senior AESC members chosen from a cross-section of global and regional member firms around the world. Karen Greenbaum will step down when her current contract expires, effective December 31, 2024. She will close her tenure as president and CEO after 10 years at AESC.
“My time at AESC has been deeply rewarding,” Ms. Greenbaum said. “As I reflect on the last 10 years, I am proud of the team of leaders that I have personally hired. Every leader at AESC is exceptional, smart, collaborative, hard-working, and committed. Together, we’ve taken great pride in capturing opportunities and driving positive change with creativity, empathy, and optimism. These leaders, combined with the entire AESC team, provide me with assurance that I will be leaving AESC in very good hands. I look forward to 2024 with continued pride in being the CEO of the association that has set the standards of excellence for our profession for 65 years.”
“AESC is profoundly grateful for Karen Greenbaum, and the impact she has had on the association and our profession, raising the bar in quality standards and innovation, especially in the area of DE&I globally,” said Julian Ha, AESC board chair and a Washington, D.C.-based partner with Heidrick & Struggles. “Jim Datri is an innovative and collaborative executive who brings a fresh perspective to AESC. He is the right leader to build on our successes.”
“With experience spanning executive roles in trade associations, law, and government, Jim Datri brings a unique blend of vision and expertise to his leadership approach,” said Sophie Wigniolle, AESC vice chair and Paris-based partner with Eric Salmon Partners. “I am confident Jim will bring the association to new heights, building on Karen Greenbaum’s decade of transformative leadership.”
Mr. Datri currently serves as CEO of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), where he built the organization’s first corporate membership program, launched a global photo competition with TIME, and has grown the organization’s revenue, membership, and reach internationally. Before that, Mr. Datri served as president and CEO of the American Advertising Federation (AAF). In this role, he quintupled revenue for the Advertising Hall of Fame and tripled revenue for the American Advertising Awards, while expanding the organization’s reach into the entertainment and tech arenas. Both the AAF and ASMP awarded him emeritus titles (president emeritus and CEO emeritus, respectively) for his transformational leadership.
In addition, Mr. Datri has been a partner in two large law firms: Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, and McDermott Will & Emery, a global 50 firm. Prior to that, he served as the executive director of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives. He also co-founded and built a noted film and video production company in New York City and Los Angeles. Datri has served on numerous boards including for The Washington Ballet and the Ad Council, the advisory boards of the Annapolis Film Festival and the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Boys Chorus, and served as vice chair of the Harvard Law School Annual Fund Council.
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“AESC members play an enormously important role in strengthening leadership worldwide,” said Mr. Datri. “The special skills, relationships, intellect, and expertise AESC members bring to the table in a collaborative process with their clients shape the landscape of regional, national, and global leadership. In a fast-changing world that needs great leaders to build and innovate, to solve the big issues, to foster opportunity, and to move us forward, AESC and its members play a critical and expansive role. I am honored and excited to begin the work of leading AESC to a new chapter of innovation, growth, and impact.”
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The Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants is a global consortium of executive search firms. It’s members range from regional and boutique executive search firms to large global executive search and leadership consultancies and networks. Its structure is designed to deliver services and support across three regions: the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe/Middle East/Africa. AESC members represent 16,000+ professionals in 1,200+ offices, spanning 70+ countries.
Serving Associations
Vetted Solutions, a specialist in conducting non-profit, government, and association sector recruiting assignments, focuses on recruiting board members, CEOs and senior staff positions for prominent and well-known organizations nationwide. Recent searches that the firm has conducted include executive director for the Association for Creative Industries, chief operating officer for the American Society of Microbiology, executive director for the Society of Exploration Geophysicists, and executive director of the American Academy of Optometry.
Jim Zaniello, the firm’s president and founder, has worked for more than two decades in positions ranging from non-profit executive director to publisher of a leading tool for non-profit executive search. He is also known to have an intimate understanding of the complex demands of the executive office through his own experience as executive director at several associations and non-profits.
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Contributed by Scott A. Scanlon, Editor-in-Chief and Dale M. Zupsansky, Executive Editor – Hunt Scanlon Media
