What are hiring professionals seeing in today's nonprofit and fundraising job market? How are candidate expectations evolving, and what skills and experiences are organizations prioritizing when filling key positions?

Join a panel of experienced recruiters and search professionals who specialize in nonprofit, advancement, and fundraising talent. During this candid conversation, panelists will share what they're seeing across regional and national searches, discuss current hiring trends, and offer practical advice for candidates looking to strengthen their applications and advance their careers.

Whether you're actively seeking your next opportunity, considering a career move, or simply interested in understanding the current landscape, you'll leave with valuable insights from professionals who review applications, conduct searches, and advise hiring organizations every day.

Panelists:

Myra Briggs, Interim Executive Director of Executive Search, Development Guild

Myra T. Briggs is a nationally recognized executive search leader, strategist, and advisor whose work sits at the intersection of leadership, access, and transformation. As Vice President of Executive Search at Development Guild, she partners with boards and chief executives to identify visionary leaders, build organizational confidence, and align talent strategy with mission and momentum.

Over the course of two decades, Myra has led enterprise-level recruitment and leadership initiatives across more than 80 countries, spanning corporate, nonprofit, and global development sectors. Her portfolio includes advising senior leadership at institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank, Morgan Stanley, Spotify, and Heifer International—helping organizations navigate critical moments with precision, empathy, and results.

Known for her candor, discernment, and unmatched intuition for leadership potential, Myra has become a trusted partner to executives navigating transition and transformation. She brings the rare perspective of someone who has both built and led search practices and advised at the highest levels of organizational strategy.

Catharine McGeever, Senior Vice President, Lambert & Associates

Catharine McGeever has been a member of the Lambert & Associates team since its inception in 1996. She is responsible for working directly with clients and managing all aspects of the search process. With over 20 years of experience in the executive search industry, Ms. McGeever’s background includes search execution and management for a broad spectrum of non-profit organizations.

Prior to joining Lambert & Associates, Ms. McGeever was a Manager in the Organizational Consulting Practice at the Philadelphia office of Laventhol and Horwath, an international public accounting/management consulting firm. She honed her skills recruiting at Garofolo, Curtiss, Lambert & McLean Co., a national healthcare executive search firm.

Ms. McGeever is a member of the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Association for Healthcare Philanthropy (AHP) and the Association of Executive Recruiters (AER). She received her BS degree in Psychology from Villanova University.

Alicia Salerno, Managing Director, DCG Global

With almost two decades of recruitment and talent development experience in the nonprofit sector and executive search, Alicia is committed to finding talent to meet the needs of organizations doing good work. Alicia engages with mission-driven organizations and talented leaders across the country and is involved in all aspects of executive search.

Guiding her work at DSG Global is a long-standing interest in the environment and climate, philanthropy, and social services sector. She has led senior-level searches for organizations like Raw Art Works, Spitfire Strategies, Redstone Strategy Group, Food & Water Watch, and Bloomberg Philanthropies. In addition, Alicia has worked with various mission-driven organizations placing exceptional leaders in the areas of communications/marketing, finance, campaigns, and operations.

A through-line of Alicia’s work is a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.  This commitment includes building a diverse pool of talent, ensuring an equitable search process. Alicia’s approach consists of thoughtful and strategic partnership leading and facilitating conversations around DEI for multiple constituents including staff, senior leadership, and Board members.

Prior to joining DSG’s Nonprofit Practice, Alicia worked for Youth Villages as a Human Capital Manager and Recruiting Supervisor, where she managed staffing and talent development for seven programs in the Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Mississippi markets.

Alicia began her career in higher education, focused on student recruitment, leadership, and training.

Ron Schiller, Founding Partner, ZRG Aspen Leadership Group

Ron Schiller is a nationally recognized advisor to presidents, chief advancement officers, board members, and other leaders and emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector. Since 2011, he has focused his attention on executive search, strategic consulting, writing, and speaking about philanthropy, drawing on his experience as a fundraising leader, executive team member, board member, and search consultant built over a 30-year career. He is an AIRS-certified Diversity and Inclusion Recruiter.

Ron has held leadership positions in seven educational and cultural institutions, including the University of Chicago, where he led a team of more than 450 that completed a $2.3 billion campaign and facilitated two nine-figure gifts. He serves on the faculty of the annual CASE conference, "Inspiring the Largest Gifts of a Lifetime" and has served as co-chair of CASE's Winter Institute for Chief Development Officers. He is the author of four books: The Chief Development Officer: Beyond Fundraising, published by Rowman & Littlefield, Belief and Confidence: Donors Talk About Successful Philanthropic Partnership, (CASE), Raising Your Organization's Largest Gifts: A Principal Gifts Handbook, (CASE), and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Advancement: A Guide to Strengthening Engagement and Fundraising Through Inclusion (CASE), co-authored with Angelique Grant. He is a regular speaker for regional and national conferences of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, CASE, the League of American Orchestras, and gift planning organizations, among others, and he is a recipient of CASE’s Crystal Apple Teaching Award.

Ron has served on the Cornell University Council and on the boards of the American Friends of Covent Garden, Chicago's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, the Cornell University Glee Club, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, Aspen’s Buddy Program, the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra, the Salt Bay Chamberfest, and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh.

Prior to founding the Aspen Leadership Group, he served as President of the NPR Foundation, Vice President for Alumni Relations and Development at the University of Chicago, and in various leadership roles at Carnegie Mellon University, Northeastern University, New England Conservatory of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. He began his career in philanthropy at Cornell during the university’s groundbreaking $1.25 billion campaign in the late 1980s.

Ron earned a bachelor’s degree at Cornell University.