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executive search

Asking Powerful Questions

By Lizzy Mottern, VP of Talent. A transition is a chance to think creatively, consider different perspectives, address challenges and opportunities, and celebrate successes. When moss+ross gets a call to assist with temporary staffing through moss+ross interim solutionsTM or an Executive Search, we ask many, many questions to gather input and feedback, build trust, nurture relationships, and explore various solutions with a client. The questions we ask, how we ask them, and whom we ask have a huge impact on our ability to understand a situation and develop meaningful, results-oriented approaches that allow clients to navigate a transition and maximize their investment in the staffing and search support we provide. Asking the right follow-up questions is another important way to dig in and fully explore challenging situations. Here's how we work to gain an understanding of an [...]

2023-08-28T16:18:57-04:00August 28th, 2023|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Executive Search: Toward a More Inclusive Process

By Emily Bruce, Senior Associate A successful search for your next nonprofit Chief Executive Officer, Executive Director, or development professional is a meticulous process with inevitable twists and turns. moss+ross guides search committees and nonprofit leaders based on our experience conducting more than 90 searches since 2010. As a firm, we have a core value to embrace diversity and inclusion through our hands-on work with community partners and clients. In our search work we strive to use an inclusive lens in every step of our process. For a typical search we: Commit to an inclusive process: Working with clients to ensure their search committees include members with diverse backgrounds and perspectives and are committed to an inclusive process Seek multiple viewpoints: Conducting constituent interviews to understand multiple viewpoints of what the organization needs and what essential skills are needed for [...]

2023-04-26T08:08:55-04:00April 25th, 2023|All Posts, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Team Expertise|
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Servant Leadership and the Usher Protocol

By Kimberly Moore. My first experience with servant leadership was watching my grandmother serve as an usher in our small rural Baptist church in Gibsland, Louisiana. I am reminded of that usher protocol through moss+ross’ work in executive search, strategic planning, and fundraising counsel as well as my service on nonprofit boards. Through my grandmother’s example as a servant leader, I witnessed her preparation, setting of the tone, and anticipation, and can trace it through all the stages of organization engagement. Preparation My grandmother spent a few hours each Saturday washing and ironing her uniform – a starched white dress with matching stockings, shoes and gloves. This first step in her process was a labor of love to meet the crisp uniform standard. Similarly, when the moss+ross team assists an organization with executive search they come to [...]

2022-05-25T10:46:19-04:00May 25th, 2022|All Posts, Team Expertise|
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Talent Makes it Happen

By Susan Ross, Partner. The media is calling it a “resignation revolution,” but when it happens in your shop it’s just painful. Executive Directors, Directors of Development, and other nonprofit staff leaders play an integral role in a team’s ability to deliver the services clients expect, and stay true to the promises made to donors. In both large and small environments, a vacancy or two can wreak havoc on the remaining staff’s ability to perform as they scramble to keep up with an increased workload. We have seen a huge uptick in clients needing executive search services this fall, and no signs of it slowing down. Whether or not this is related to the pandemic, the need for experienced, mission-focused leaders is very real. At moss+ross, we are poised to help with interim professional placement to keep [...]

2021-11-04T15:34:06-04:00November 4th, 2021|All Posts, From The Partners, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Leadership Lessons

By moss+ross staff. moss+ross has offered Executive Search services since 2010, and has helped Triangle nonprofits place more than 70 executive-level and development professionals since then. We asked several to share their perspective on nonprofit leadership in today’s environment. Each has led with resilience to revamp services, operate without volunteers, and respond to changing conditions in this past year. Urban Ministries of Durham offers food, shelter and a future to end homelessness and fight poverty in Durham. “You try to stay focused on the things you can control while understanding the need to stay flexible and adaptable. For example, during the pandemic, we had to shift our focus from providing food, housing and other services to keeping people healthy.  That became our first priority.” Sheldon Mitchell, Executive Director (moss+ross search placement in 2016) United Way of the [...]

2021-07-26T21:02:43-04:00May 19th, 2021|All Posts, Client Highlights, Highlights from the Latest Newsletter|
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Recent Executive Search Results

We are pleased to announce the conclusion of recent Executive Searches. The Eno River Association has hired Jessica B. Sheffield as its new Executive Director. Sheffield comes to the Eno River Association after eleven years as the Program Coordinator at Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions. Voices Together has hired John Mitterling as its new Director of Development. Mitterling brings more than 30 years of fundraising experience having served most recently as the Senior Director of Development at MDC in Durham. NC State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences has hired Dinah Schuster as its new Senior Director of Development, Plant Sciences Initiative. Schuster has more than twenty years of experience in higher education advancement (most recently in development roles at Louisiana State University). For more information about our active job searches, please visit Jobs. [...]

2020-02-21T18:03:32-05:00February 6th, 2020|All Posts, Staffing|
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Should You Hire a Search Firm?

By Fred Stang. When your organization needs to hire a senior-level leader, you may wonder about the value of hiring a search firm versus managing the search in-house. Searches take a great deal of thought, energy, resources and time. Do you have the time to manage a search on your own?  From start to finish, a well-run search takes an incredible amount of time to do well. From revising or creating the job description, to recruitment, screening, interviews and making a decision, each step needs to be done thoughtfully and in a timely manner.  When moss+ross takes on a search, we are committed to giving your search the time it needs at each and every stage of the process.  We are skilled at keeping the process moving and the search team engaged. Do you have the time to [...]

2020-02-28T18:17:35-05:00June 4th, 2019|All Posts, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Taking Time to Hire the Right Skill Set

By Kim Glenn. A familiar refrain in the nonprofit world is: The team is working at capacity and needs help. Even with the help of generous volunteers, the staff are stretched to raise enough dollars and to meet the ongoing demand for your services. Once you’re in the fortunate position of having a new position approved by your board of directors, everyone is thrilled. But what begins as excitement can turn quickly into panic or disappointment without a good action plan. You’ve waited a long time for a new staff person so don’t rush - take the extra time to hire the right skill set. According to the 2019 Nonprofit Employment Report, the Triangle is the nonprofit mecca of North Carolina, comprising 10 percent of the private workforce, compared to 8 percent for North Carolina as a whole. With [...]

2020-02-28T17:56:31-05:00April 11th, 2019|All Posts, Staffing, Team Expertise|
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Who Are Your People? Find out in eight easy steps.

By Mary Moss. When growing up, this was one of the most often heard questions coming from the generations above.  I can remember not having a good answer for it.  I didn’t have “people” that I thought were description-worthy.  Frankly, I had no idea who “my people” were:  they were just a sister, grandparents and some distant cousins, so why did people keep asking me “who were my people”?  A few times I answered “Criminals who came over from Ireland” to much laughter.  As it turns out, once I got older and more comfortable with this question, I realized that those asking just wanted to know more about me; the question was not meant to be intrusive but a friendly colloquialism that invited conversation and connection.  In a nostalgic moment now and then, I wish I knew my [...]

2020-02-28T18:32:05-05:00April 10th, 2018|All Posts, Campaign Counsel, From The Partners, Fundraising Counsel, Staffing|
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