Success Stories

I’m writing to share very positive feedback on our experience working with Carney, Sandoe & Associates, and in particular – your search consultant, Allison Stiles. Allison was our lead consultant in finding both an interim and permanent preschool director. Working with Allison was an incredible experience! She was thoughtful, strategic, responsive, and incredibly thorough. She was transparent the entire process and spent a great deal of time working with our committee, board, staff and church to ensure we had a professional search process. All of our candidates - both for interim and permanent hire - were top notch and were candidates we know we would have never had exposure to unless we had worked with Allison and CS&A.

As we approach our 1-year anniversary of engaging CS&A in this search, Allison continues to reach out and also be responsive to my questions. She has remained in close contact with our director as well as our board, making herself available if we need her. Just this week I had a question that she could have probably emailed me an answer; instead she picked up the phone and shared her perspective to answer my question.

I could not say enough good things about Allison, CS&A and the entire process, and have already shared with others that if they ever need to do a similar search, they should engage CS&A.

As co-chairs of the Woodland Country Day School Head-of-School (HOS) Search Committee, we are writing to share with you how helpful Karen Neitzel was to have as part of this important process. For funding reasons, the committee and the Board of Trustees initially considered not hiring a search agency, yet based on consideration of the many phases of the process and the significant impact of the results to the school, determined that hiring an agency was the right decision. Once the approval was provided to hire an agency, it was an easy decision to hire CSA and work with Karen based on our experience with her during the interim HOS search last year.

For the permanent HOS search, in working with Karen from December through April, she proved in many ways that the money we spent was well spent. Karen was professional, knowledgeable, available, resourceful, and conscientious throughout the time we worked with her. Along with the help of the standard search process phases (meetings, training, surveys, posting the position, vetting applicants, interviewing candidates, obtaining references), Karen helped in many other ways. She guided us as a committee to help us know what to expect, she answered many questions about how we'd handle various steps (perhaps especially when working with several internal candidates, including the interim HOS applicant), she was prompt and organized, she moved us through challenging committee moments when agreement on moving forward was difficult, and she provided alternative recommendations for moving forward when we got stuck on the obvious solutions that were not working for us. Karen also helped us through some very sensitive moments of the process.
It's unlikely this information will be a surprise to you, but Karen earned this recognition for her dedication to the process and to our committee. Thank you, Karen, and thank you to CSA!

Thank you for helping our school find our next Head of High School. I cannot express to you how grateful I am for your candor, willingness to talk and be my partner in this process. Rice, you are exceptional at what you do. Thank you for making a difference for our kids and families.

With appreciative regards,

Mark A. Brooks

Just a note to say how valuable Brandon has been for us in our efforts to hire and support great teachers, particularly faculty of color. Brandon partnered with us in a recent hiring workshop for our division heads, department chairs, HR, and other school leaders. It was a resounding success! Brandon was flexible, insightful, easy to work with and genuine. He went above and beyond by interviewing six current faculty to provide us with meaningful, qualitative data to help guide strategy.

Thank you so much for the guidance and wisdom you gave Harding Academy these past few months. Carney Sandoe's reputation is excellent, and you exceeded the high expectations we had for you in this partnership. Your gentle nudges, your words of encouragement, and your thoughtful questions reflect your integrity, professionalism and experience. I am excited for the path Harding Academy will climb with its new leader, and we would not be here without you. Countless children in the years to come will benefit because of where you have moved us.

I am forever grateful to Ann Teaff for being such an integral and special part of my first year as head of school. She was there for me at every turn. Her keen ability to listen and observe during an early campus visit provided an important framework for our future conversations. Understanding the context in which I was leading allowed her to make sure I was celebrating my successes - something first-year heads need to be reminded of. She also came alongside me during the hardest of decisions. I was the beneficiary of so many helpful resources in our work together. Her willingness to connect me with experts in a number of areas allowed me to move more quickly through learning curves. Perhaps most of all I benefited greatly from Ann's ability to ask the very best questions of me - and in the right order! A masterful coach and mentor, she helped me develop confidence in my own decisions. I still cherish our conversations and the wisdom I gained from her in our year together.

A sincere thank you for all of your support helping us with our Head of School and Principal search. Your steady hand and sage guidance were so appreciated and I want you to know that we are in a great place with our new leadership.

Marsha was exactly the facilitator and thought partner we needed. She provided guiding structures tailored to our topic that were generative rather than restrictive. She listened deeply to understand our specific context, needs, and goals. Thus, we arrived at unique conclusions with efficiency and clarity we could not have achieved on our own.

Carney Sandoe has routinely helped my school find amazing leadership talent. A recent CFO search has resulted in finding a leader who has been transformative for our school. Greg Britton listened thoughtfully about our needs and recruited a strong array of finalists. A CFO transition is one of the most challenging to manage in schools, and Carney Sandoe helped us manage this in amazing ways.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with Cathy Shelburne and Sara Shulman, and I could not have wished for a better outcome, particularly during a time when it felt like all of our peer schools were also looking for a Director of Advancement.