C5LA, founded in 1999, was in need of a full time, in-house Director of Development. “It’s the first one in the organization’s history,” said Executive Director, Joseph Collins. “This was a critical role for us and after an unsuccessful search on our own; we needed an executive firm to assist us.”
Tomilee Gill, President of Executives Unlimited and active supporter of C5LA as well as the 2015 Inspire the Dream co-recipient, offered Executives Unlimited’s services pro bono to conduct C5LA’s executive search. “We were so grateful when the EU team, a friend to C5LA, offered to take C5LA on as a pro bono client, explained Joseph Collins. The EU team fervently believes in C5 Youth Foundation of Southern California’s mission: to change the odds for high-potential teens from under-resourced communities by inspiring them to pursue personal success, while preparing them for leadership roles in school, college, work and their communities. Executives Unlimited launched the search for accomplished development candidates that share the passion to help underserved youth.
The Executives Unlimited team worked closely with Joseph Collins, Executive Director of C5 Youth Foundation, to formulate assignment specifications for the position that would include all facets of this vital role. Tomilee’s firsthand knowledge of the organization and their programs helped to streamline the scope of the search. After a focused and extensive sourcing of the applicable talent pool, the team vetted potential candidates through initial interviews before presenting them to the client.
“The EU team was remarkable. From the initial meetings to the final stages of the offer process, the EU team was professional, efficient, thorough and supportive,” said Joseph Collins.
After thorough references and background checks, C5LA proudly selected Judy Cantu as their new Development Director.
“Executives Unlimited understands that every organization has a unique culture and when an executive position is to be filled, the process must be handled with professionalism and finesse, explained Judy Cantu. “As an executive looking for that “right fit”, I was impressed with the attention to the details and their process of getting to know me to ensure my new position would be a great fit for not only me, but for the organization as well. I felt confident throughout the process. I especially appreciated the clear and timely communication from EUI – something I consider extremely valuable in today’s job-search culture. I have now joined C5LA and I feel that I have made a valuable connection to a team of professional consultants.”
In closing, Joseph Collins gave his final remarks, “I have worked with other executive search firms and I can confidently say that the EU team was deeply committed to our search, worked tirelessly to vet the candidates and presenting several great people for us to interview – we had a handful of great choices to pick from. The team did their homework, found good people and guided us through the process making it both seamless and downright easy. I received binders with CVs, narratives, background info, interview questions and headshots. I had everything I needed at my fingertips and the tools to help in the selection process.
For anyone who is on the fence about partnering with EU, I will share this story. On our second call to discuss what we were looking for and the profile of the candidate that would work best for us, Tomilee offered the name of a candidate that she thought could work. Several months later, after an exhaustive process of meeting many candidates, several follow up interviews, meetings with my board and the EU team, we ended up making an offer to the initial candidate that Tomilee suggested. If that’s not intuition, forethought, confidence and an expert display of what a search firm should be, then I don’t know what is!”
For more than 16 years, an integral part of Executives Unlimited is providing nonprofit executive search and consulting services to organizations. For information about our services, please call us at (866) 957-4466 or contact us online today.
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