You’ve heard the saying “it takes a village”. It’s never just one person, idea, or moment that guides our lives. It’s all three combined.
And sometimes, it’s even God tapping on your shoulder and saying, “watch what’s about to unfold”.
That’s exactly what happened with our recent successful Talent Solutions partnership with Teach Every Nation. God knew this special organization needed a team, not just one person, and a team is what they got.
Amber Christoferson, Group Vice President of Executive Search, started this search just like any other - by covering it in prayer, praying that the right candidate would be found and that the Lord would lead this search. Our team sees our Talent Solutions work as Kingdom building work. We find the right people on the front lines who will advance the work of nonprofits, secular or faith based, to advance their mission.
As soon as our Talent Solutions team made the announcement that Teach Every Nation was looking for a development director, applications came rolling in. Our team was blown away by how many amazing applicants we had. With more than 150 applicants to sort through, we knew we’d have our work cut out for us.
With the influx of candidates applying for this position, our team worked to narrow the list down a few times. Amber took a close look at all applicants and was able to narrow her original list from 150 down to the top three.
We like to work through a process of mutual discernment with our clients and candidates. We know nonprofit work is good work and we allow God to do what he’s already doing, so that we can look beyond a piece of paper to see what someone can offer for a certain position.
That someone was Danny Munoz.
You know that feeling where you can’t get something or somebody off of your mind, but you don’t quite understand why? That was how Amber felt when she was first reading over Danny’s resume for the role of Development Director for Teach Every Nation.
Every time Amber came back to Danny’s resume God kept saying ‘take another look at him.’
Over the past few years, Danny had jumped a lot of hurdles but stayed resilient through every obstacle he faced, which is just one of the many qualities that made him a perfect candidate.
Amber soon realized that there was so much more to Danny’s story than what could fit on a piece of paper. She kept feeling a push from the Lord to get to know who Danny was outside of what she read on his resume.
Amber learned that Danny was continuing his education. He also shared what God was doing in his life and this opportunity allowed Danny to explain that he was really looking for a place to be rooted - not potted.
God was already at work.
Come to find out, Danny was always Teach Every Nation’s top candidate and they knew from the first interview they planned to extend an offer. Not only was Danny a good fit for the work Teach Every Nation needed help with, he had the personality and “soft skills” that just can’t be taught.
Sometimes it’s the things that can’t be taught or trained that really set you apart as a candidate. And that’s just the case with Danny. Offered the position of Regional Development Director, Danny will certainly thrive in this role and continue to find his place working alongside his colleagues at Teach Every Nation.
Not only did Danny catch the eye of Amber, Rob Smith proved to be a top candidate throughout the search.
Rob was a great candidate on paper, with over 15 years experience and a proven track record.
Not only does he know the donors he works with, but they love him. There’s just something about those interpersonal skills that are essential to the world of fundraising.
From the get go, Amber knew he would be a good fit for her client, having strong experience and a steady personality.
And Teach Every Nation saw the same qualities that Amber saw. They agreed that Rob would find great success as a Regional Development Director.
Finally, Amber met with Sean Dana and felt that he rounded out the trifecta of talent that Teach Every Nation needed.
Sean’s background was more of a donor engagement background. He is strong with effective storytelling, being able to connect the dots, and had years of experience working in global ministry.
Sean had experiences from all over the world and could use his experience of mission adventures to work with Teach Every Nation’s ministries in South Africa. It was decided that Sean would go to South Africa and take people to develop major gift prospects for their mission. Everyone involved felt the Lord leading this placement.
Sean knew Teach Every Nation needed him, and he needed Teach Every Nation.
It was just a God thing.
The entire team at Teach Every Nation was energized to find three amazing candidates as naturally as they did.
Why have only one person when you could have three amazing candidates?
God’s plan never fails, and it's often greater than you could ever imagine.
