Let’s complete your team
About Us
Chances are you don't have to run a high-stakes search often. But it also means you haven’t invested the time to iterate and learn. Our training and recruiting experience allow us to ask probing questions and discover the opportunity in a leadership transition. Our guidance generates insights and helps candidates understand what your organization’s needs truly are.
Recruiting takes time and can be unpredictable, so you shouldn't have to go it alone. For the duration of our engagement, you get us, not a junior associate. You also get our marketplace expertise, our judgment, and our efforts working as an integral part your team. We work in partnership with you and your colleagues to solve for the leadership needs ahead.
We help you find the right solution - not just for your open role - but also for your organizational culture and mission.
-
“You offer more than a search. It's the reason we chose you, and it's been our experience. I think very highly of the other search firms that I've worked with. And what you provide is different and more.”
— Sarah Baker, Head of School at Tower Hill School
-
"You were efficient and thorough, more than any other search I’ve seen."
—Steve Farley, former Head at Kingsley Montessori School
-
“I appreciate your thought-partnership. Our relationship helps me articulate what I discern to be important to this search process so it reflects our school’s values.”
- John Melton, Head of School, Lake Forest Country Day School
-
"The reasons we went with you originally, and came back to you for more work, have all been confirmed. Your search process is really strong, and it’s awesome to work with you."
—Chris Day, Head of School, Cardigan Mountain School
-
“The way you go about the work differentiates you: real contacts, real vetting, real options. You clearly listened to us and what we wanted.”
—John Coyle, former Director of Development, Georgetown Preparatory School
-
"I can say for sure this is the most thorough, thoughtful, methodical search process I've ever been part of. You all are doing a great job."
— Head of School, Current Client
-
“At the start, search firms promise the world. They say: ‘we’ve done this a million times, don’t worry.’ But then they get frustrated with my high standards. I love what you told us in our first search together - Don’t Settle! - which is meaningful guidance I use in every search now.”
— Dave Thibault, Superintendent of Schools, Diocese of Manchester NH
-
“We do appreciate honesty and candor. Part of the reason we all liked you and your firm was that we felt like there was just a level of candor that we didn't feel from all of the search firms."
—Committee Member, Current Client
-
"Having collaborated with them on multiple head of school and senior leadership searches, I’ve been consistently impressed by their fresh, thoughtful approach. They take the time to truly understand your school—its culture, priorities, and aspirations—in a way that sets them apart from any other firm I’ve worked with."
—Katie Colin, Executive Director of Sponsorship, Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, U.S. East-West Province
-
“You restored my faith in consultants.”
- Amy Jolly, Head of School at Applewild School
-
“I’ve never seen it before. You helped us achieve consensus.”
-Brendan Largay, Head of School, Belmont Day School
-
“Your expertise and insight are instrumental to where we are today. A lifesaver.”
- Annemarie Lynch Kenneally, President, Notre Dame Academy, Hingham MA
Why ‘Narwhal Talent Partners’?
We know you are looking for something special, maybe even one-of-a-kind. Enough hiring managers told us they were looking for a unicorn that we started to wonder: ‘Can we help our clients create the conditions for outcomes that are both true and aspirational?’
We’re not corporate, or all-purpose, or a clearinghouse - and neither is our name, nor our clients. Because the process of recruiting talent is extraordinarily personal, you need someone to build relationships and run a responsive search process designed to meet your highest expectations.
Our clients are not looking for someone to tell them how to run their business. Partners is in our name because our service is not only to provide candidates from which to choose: our clients are seeking partnership in the process.
Our Story
As former educators and administrators in independent schools, we know what success looks like for you.
Our founding partners each started out teaching students in the classroom. For 20 years each of us had made a commitment to build and grow programs that educate young people.
That was until a mutual friend -and school business officer- introduced us in 2018 because we “would enjoy meeting each other” - and we have been working together ever since. We share a work history in summer camps and independent schools. We bonded over the stories that former employees, hiring managers, and administrators naturally have about the unique ways in which these places operate - and a sense that we could make a difference working together.
We bring joy, purpose, and resonance with your mission to our recruiting work.
We get you.
We listen, seek to understand, and serve your priorities in all we do. We:
produce custom candidate research
proactively reach prospective candidates
cultivate candidate interest
generate marketplace intelligence
get buy-in from your team
manage relationships and risks
persevere, and complete your team
Our Partners
Meet Peter
Peter Hamilton is an educator, former dean, and fundraiser.
“When I was working in schools and approached by search firms, it all felt very transactional, as if they were trying to sell me something. They did not take the time to learn what was important to me, and didn’t use my time wisely. I could tell they didn’t know their client. Because our clients put relationships at the core of their mission, it seems natural that in our recruiting work we would do the same.” (LinkedIn)
Meet Christian
Christian Henry is a former CFO, fundraiser, non-profit administrator, and teacher.
“It’s my impulse to pull things apart, work together to discover solutions, fix things, and in general leave them better than I found them. That sense of accomplishment motivated me when starting a school, and it’s why seeing our clients well served is satisfying for me. Each organization we work with has unique and differentiated opportunities. They deserve distinctive solutions.” (LinkedIn)