Need: Find a highly qualified individual to lead a growing agency
Service: Executive Search
Bearing the initials of its founder, Fr. John Robert Coleman, JRC provides two distinct but related services: early childhood education and senior day services. When its Executive Director announced his intention to retire, JRC’s Board reviewed RFPs and selected The Yunker Group to facilitate its search for the 47-year-old agency.
Board President Ron Macala said, “The Yunker Group exceeded all of my expectations. Their professionalism and confidence in the area of executive searches was very impressive. The comprehensive and meticulous manner in which they conducted our search enabled our committee to identify and secure who we believe to be the strongest and most capable candidate – and you can’t ask for more than that.”
“If I had to choose one word to describe The Yunker Group, I’d choose integrity. I believe that they believe in what they do, and they do it in such a way that instills confidence in the accuracy and reliability of the information and counsel they provide.”
Past Board President and Search Committee member Nancy Cochrane added, “From my standpoint, the search went even better than I expected. We had more candidates – and more qualified candidates – than I thought we would, and I think that was at least partially a function of The Yunker Group’s skill promoting the position. I’ve been involved in one other nonprofit search and with multiple corporate searches at this level, and this is absolutely the best one I’ve been part of.”
“By engaging with The Yunker Group, we got the best possible candidate in a very reasonable amount of time. And, honestly, I don’t think we would have found this candidate on our own. In the end, the committee’s decision was unanimous, which is pretty remarkable. I just don’t think that would have happened without The Yunker Group. I would highly recommend The Yunker Group. If a nonprofit is considering a search – and even deciding even whether to hire a search firm versus whether this search firm or that one – I want them to know it was a very positive experience for us. Ultimately, I thought the cost was very fair and reasonable and well worth it.”
Julie Abiecunas, the successful candidate and now JRC’s CEO commented, “I loved the process. It was multifaceted and that showed me that the Board was deeply invested. It was also easy and transparent. Jenny Weiglein and Jim Yunker let me know everything that was going to happen and when so that I could be prepared and know what to expect.”
Julie added, “The Yunker Group was both client and candidate centric. It was clear that their priority was finding that right fit, and they weren’t going to cut any corners in doing that. One of my references said that Jenny conducted one of the best reference calls she’d ever had. She could really tell that The Yunker Group was putting a lot of thought and care into the process based on the kind of thoughtful, detailed questions Jenny asked.”
“The HR/recruiting process can really be all over the place. So, I was truly impressed with the experience I had, which says a lot about The Yunker Group but also about JRC and the caliber of the organization and its commitment to finding the right person for this position.”