Phillips Oppenheim

Our Philosophy

When Phillips Oppenheim was founded in 1991, nonprofits needing professional executive search services had no alternative but to turn to commercial search firms or solo specialists. Then, we filled a niche as a firm invested in the professional standards and resources of the commercial firms with the personal service and care of a solo specialist to reach across public, business and nonprofit sector boundaries to find the most innovative candidates. Today, our deep expertise, networks, and breadth of strategic solutions accrued over almost three decades and informed by the one constant of dynamic change continues to be the touchstone of our work with clients, globally.

We offer nonprofits a better choice and a clear philosophy:

  • We partner with mission-driven organizations and individuals, often in transition, to address critical leadership, management and governance issues;
  • We focus on service and transparency;
  • We provide our clients with choices they might not otherwise have while sustaining the highest level of executive search consulting.

Moreover, we foster relationships with organizations and individuals beyond specific searches to assist the sector, investing in its rising talent and overall health, while maintaining our inclusive culture.

Our Commitment to DEIA

Our flat organizational structure with ten Principal Search Consultants, half of whom are of color and a majority of whom are female, reinforces equity internally. Phillips Oppenheim itself has a long record as a firm of racially and culturally diverse professionals with independent and unique voices who support and promote the firm's desire to ensure that highly qualified candidates from all backgrounds are considered for the searches we undertake. We started as, and remain, a firm serving mission-based institutions with an early focus in the social justice arena that has since informed our expanded portfolio across the nonprofit sector. Similarly, we are committed to equity in every slate we present:

  • We believe, and studies support, that there is a powerful Diversity Dividend
  • The intentional inclusion of diverse perspectives leads to better decision making, more equitable outcomes, and greater impact
  • Divergent perspectives inspire innovation that can help solve old and new problems
  • Diversity, equity, inclusion and access leads to a more just society for all.