Michele Haertel is inspired by the world-changing impact of the philanthropic, higher education and arts organizations she serves. She is dedicated to helping clients around the world drive organizational and leadership capacity for greater impact and mission alignment. Her broad relationships and creativity allow her to develop diverse, traditional and nontraditional candidate pools in an evolving and ever more critical sector.

Michele leads Spencer Stuart’s Education & Social Impact and Academia & Research practices and has substantially extended its reach, scope and reputation. With more than 25 years of experience in nonprofits, human resources, organizational strategy and search, she brings firsthand understanding of the portfolio of experience leaders need to succeed. She is particularly focused on developing client- and candidate-centric processes and strategies that align with organizational goals and values. This approach has earned Michele trusted adviser status in critical and complex leadership transitions.

Expertise

Michele has specialized experience in:

  • CEO and presidential search and succession
  • Board governance, review and recruitment, with a focus on diversity
  • Leadership assessment
  • Organizational development
  • Philanthropy and social impact
  • Higher education
  • Art and culture
  • Nonprofits focused on media, technology and entrepreneurship

 

Recent work

  • Leading recent searches in the philanthropic sector on behalf of high-impact foundations such as Mellon, MacArthur, Skoll and Sloan
  • Advising on presidential searches at a range of higher education institutions, including Yale University, Brown University, Williams College, Pomona College and Quinnipiac University
  • Leading presidential arts and culture searches at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lincoln Center
  • Advising boards to achieve best-practice recruitment and greater diversity
  • Working with major New York City institutions that support underserved communities such as The Children’s Aid Society and Robin Hood Foundation

Previous Experience

  • Senior executive positions in arts and culture and marketing organizations in the areas of strategy, organization development, marketing and business development
  • Consultant to nonprofit and cultural organizations in development, organization planning, executive coaching and board strategy

Education

  • B.A. in psychology from Holy Cross College

Practice Areas