• The Clover Way 

    Although every search is different, over time we have identified a few key principles and beliefs that are essential to how we approach all of our work.

    We partner exclusively with mission-based nonprofit and philanthropic organizations

    At Clover we specifically partner with mission-based organizations that are focused on strengthening communities, protecting the earth, and promoting equity and justice. As nonprofit professionals ourselves, we understand how critical, and at times fraught, a leadership transition can be for these organizations. We design search processes that recognize and respect the unique context, culture, and values of every organization we serve.

    We prioritize procedural transparency, confidentiality, and accountability

    We recognize that a leadership search can be stressful for board members, staff members, and the candidates themselves. Creating a thoughtful search plan, taking the time to communicate what will be happening and when, and following through when we say we will all help to mitigate that stress and build trust and confidence across the entire organization. We also recognize that client and candidate confidentiality is a foundation of any credible and trustworthy search process, and we hold ourselves and our clients to the highest confidentiality standards throughout our engagement and beyond.

    Equity is at the forefront of our work

    Centering equity in a search process requires deliberateness and intention from the first day of a search to the last. We are committed to using strategies and approaches that promote inclusion and mitigate bias in all the searches we facilitate. We share these tools with our clients and continually learn as we go, so we can do better with every search. We recognize that as search consultants we are in a unique position to promote anti-racism in hiring and to champion and support leaders of color and other underrepresented communities, and we take those responsibilities very seriously.

     

    We see search as a partnership

    While Clover brings expertise and experience in search, your board and staff are the experts in your organization's history, values, and culture. Because of this, we believe that searches are most successful when we work closely together every step of the way. Our partnership model applies internally too. Working as a team allows us to draw on each other's skills and expertise for the best possible outcomes. While every search has an identified lead, everyone on the Clover team offers their ideas, insights, and connections, especially when it comes to recruiting strong candidates.

    We see search as opportunity for capacity building

    Leadership transitions offer nonprofits exciting opportunities for growth, such as exploring new models of leadership, communicating information about your mission and values with new audiences, and rethinking your organization's habits and norms in hiring. We offer support and guidance in building your capacity in all of these areas, including sharing our tools and templates so that you will be fully equipped to run more equitable, intentional, human-focused searches for any position you are hiring for even after our engagement has ended.

    We honor the humanity and integrity of everyone involved in the search process

    In every search only one person will end up with the job, but it is our goal that everyone involved in the search comes away feeling positively about the professionalism and integrity of your organization and the search itself. We strive to have candidates, board and staff members, and all other stakeholders involved in the search feel included, respected, heard, and motivated to keep doing their critical work in the world.