“As an executive involved in hundreds of hires over the course of my career, I’ve had the opportunity to engage many of the leading search firms in the United States and abroad. My results were mixed, with many of those engagements delivering under-qualified or mismatched candidates. What is clear to me now, having completed a highly successful Executive Director search (and beginning yet another engagement with them) is that working with Axis is an altogether different experience.

Their process for gathering our true needs, translating those into a search strategy, and implementing their well-formed processes, ensured that we conducted not only a successful, equitable national search, but allowed us to find a candidate who was an ideal fit. A candidate I am certain we would have never found, and convinced to join us, on our own.

The Axis team was with us every step of the way, helping us navigate a difficult hiring challenge and turn it into a successful new direction for our whole organization. And, it showed me what a quality executive search should look like.”

Robert Kelly, Board Member
ACLU  of Maine

“Our search committee had the distinct pleasure of partnering with Axis in our successful search for a new Executive Director for the ACLU of Maine. Axis was a true partner every step of the way—showing up well prepared for our bi-weekly meetings, teaching us how to conduct a truly equitable search, and stretching our thought processes and knowledge.

We were delighted to find a great match for our organization, but also…we were also a little sad when it was over, as we truly enjoyed our meetings and the relationship we had built with them! We would not hesitate to use their services again in the future.”

Nancy
ACLU of Maine

“I definitely thought the effort you all (Axis) put into tailoring the process to what we hoped to get out of it, both the process and product, was really, really impressive. The amount of time that had to go into that was more than I have a sense of. I felt like you were meeting with people all the time in the beginning, you supported the huge number of people we suggested you speak with to understand the org. It was very clear how deeply connected and committed you were to doing that on behalf of the search on the front end. The rest of the process was deep and rigorous and highly relational. It was super clear how much energy you were putting in. This did not feel cookie cutter at all.”

Nicole Rodriguez
Center for Racial Justice in Education

“My experience with Axis was unlike any other experience I have had with a search firm. Not only was the candidate we ultimately hired incredible, but we had more confidence in who we wanted and are set up like we would never have been to position that person for success. Laura is genuinely open to feedback and really really listens. Her approach was al dente – firm yet tender — and she never released the ground we had covered, but was flexible and open to changing circumstances. I felt the process was built to not only get the right person in the door, but build our capacity as an organization. I would absolutely use Axis again and would recommend them to any organization interested in maximizing their time, resources and talent to achieve results. Thank you, Laura!”

Brigid Ahern, CEO
Turn Around USA

“Working with Axis was like organizational therapy. I felt deeply supported, pushed and understood, and leaned heavily on their thought partnership as we re-conceived our leadership structure.”

Jennifer Andaluz, Executive Director and Col-Founder
Downtown College Prep

“It’s so rare that you meet people in your industry that have such a breadth and depth of skill set, and an empathy and compassion for the work. These were pluses I appreciated – tremendous value-adds that I wouldn’t have gotten from a traditional search firm. I felt really heard throughout the process. Axis Talent Partners took a lot of time to understand what we wanted, understand the candidates, and make the best match. The entire process was great and I highly valued this experience. I wouldn’t have trusted another firm in the same way.”

Alton B. Nelson, Jr., CEO
Making Waves Academy