Leadership Search
LJN Search uses a process based approach grounded in creating a positive and inclusive learning experience for ALL participants. During a four year search for her own first Executive Director role, LJN worked with a variety of search firms, big and small. Each one did things well, and each one provided her with ideas around what she might do differently. These experiences, her own unusual Executive Director experience, and her deep interest in transitions, meant leadership search was a natural fit for LJN Advisory.
Spring 2025: LJN Advisory has been engaged by Neighborhood Music School in New Haven CT to find a Director of Student Services.
The DSS serves as an Administrative Department Head and manages and contributes to a team of customer service and registration professionals whose primary role is to ensure everyone who walks through the door feels welcomed, informed, and helped.
Click below to read more about the opportunity.
“Lorna Jane masterfully managed our executive director search, profoundly impressing the committee with her acuity, strategic thinking, professionalism, organizational skills and excellent good humor. I was particularly impressed with her sensitivity, and perceptiveness; treating every candidate and committee member with tact, respect and empathy. This enabled her to draw people out and reveal themselves in ways that were crucial to our ability to assess their suitability. As a former ED herself, she thoroughly understood the role, and was able to help us both define our values for the position, and also enumerate the skills and qualities we were looking for.”
Dr. Sarah Paul - Search Committee, Bloomingdale Music School
The search for a new leader is an exciting time for an organization. No matter how much an outgoing leader was beloved, new leadership invites the opportunity for a new chapter. The search process itself provides a framework for examining and challenging organizational norms and assumptions, and for choosing leadership that is reflective of an organization’s ‘now’ as well as responding to emerging needs. Approached through a positive lens, a search process is a rare opportunity to distribute a vital task among an organization’s key contributors. This unique opening in the normal way of doing things promotes a safe space for discovery, inquiry, creativity, courageous conversation, and for new voices to be heard. Choosing a new leader is only one desired outcome; organizations can emerge with improved best practices around inclusivity, collaboration, and communication, stronger relationships across constituent groups, and a refreshed commitment to the work. As a white woman, Lorna Jane recognizes the critical need to educate herself and the organizations she works with around unconscious biases that have long resulted in preventing marginalized voices from attaining leadership roles. She is committed to providing a search process that is free from biases due to a candidate’s age, race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and other personal characteristics that are unrelated to their job performance, by building open, structured, consistent, and intentional systems. Sourcing and recruiting leaders who have historically been discriminated against, will significantly advance equity in our organizations so that they can better serve their communities.
“Our team is so grateful for the care Lorna Jane took every step of the way to include the staff and faculty in the search process. Her reputation in the community arts education field preceded Lorna Jane and she exceeded all our expectations! I’ve had a lot of exposure to the worlds of recruiting and executive search at boutique firms and huge organizations alike, and Lorna Jane showed a rare blend of warmth, compassion, wisdom and candor. We have been so lucky to have her lead this process for us.”
Senior staff member