Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group

What Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group does

Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group (NPAG) is a women-founded, women-owned, and women-led boutique executive search and consulting firm headquartered in the Washington, DC area with a distributed team of roughly 20 professionals across the U.S. and Costa Rica. Founded in 2002, the firm specializes exclusively in retained executive search for nonprofits, foundations, and social-impact organizations, with deep concentration in social-justice verticals including racial and gender equity, LGBTQIA+ rights, reproductive health, democracy preservation, health equity, climate justice, and economic justice. Over its history NPAG has completed more than 1,400 executive searches and works with high-profile clients such as the Ford Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The California Endowment, ACLU state affiliates, and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

The firm's core offering is retained executive search delivered via flexible engagement models — full-service retained search, project-based search, hourly consulting, and hybrid arrangements — often supplemented by post-placement onboarding and transition coaching. Around this core, NPAG has built a consulting platform spanning Organizational Development, Executive & Leadership Coaching, Leadership Transitions & Change, Succession Planning, Outplacement Coaching, and a Capacity Building & Culture & Restorative Practices practice operated in partnership with Dr. Linda Chavers. GTM is sales-led and direct: foundations and nonprofit boards engage NPAG on flexible fee structures (flat fee, hourly, project-based, or hybrid), with no third-party channel or marketplace resellers. NPAG publishes equity-centered impact metrics — 71% of placements since 2021 identifying as BIPOC, 65% of engagements with repeat clients, and 92% two-year placement retention.

The firm is privately held with no funding rounds, no parent company, and no institutional outside ownership disclosed; Allison Kupfer Poteet serves as Managing Partner with founder Katherine Jacobs in a CEO Emeritus capacity alongside a leadership bench that includes Managing Directors Ellen LaPointe and Emily Wexler, Principals Rachel Burgoyne and Phuong Quach, and CFOO Jennifer Su. Operations are remote-first with no centralized headquarters, and the firm invests in content marketing and a Talent Network portal for top-of-funnel candidate pipeline development.

Name

Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group

Legal name

Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group

Website

https://npag.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

NPAG is a women-founded, women-owned executive search and consulting firm serving U.S. nonprofits and foundations with retained leadership search and organizational development services, with deep specialization in social-justice and philanthropy verticals.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Executive Search & Nonprofit Consulting

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312), Management Consulting Services (54161)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Confidential/Replacement & Succession Search (BPACAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Leadership Development & Executive Coaching (BPAHAGAD), Human Capital & Workforce Transformation Consulting (BPAHACAE), Executive Outplacement (C-Suite & Senior Leaders) (BPACAOAC)

Keywords

• Executive search services
• Nonprofit consulting
• Leadership transitions
• Organizational development
• Talent acquisition

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Executive Search Services: Full-service retained executive search for nonprofit organizations and foundations. Flexible engagement models including flat fee, hourly, project-based, and hybrid approaches to meet varying organizational needs and budgets.
2. Consulting Services: Organizational development, leadership coaching, succession planning, capacity building, culture and restorative practices consulting. Delivered through project-based engagements and ongoing advisory relationships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

NPAG provides retained executive search and consulting services exclusively to nonprofit organizations and foundations. The firm supports equity-centered leadership transitions through candidate sourcing, screening, and placement for senior executive roles, complemented by organizational development, executive coaching, succession planning, and capacity-building engagements delivered through flexible models (full-service, project-based, hourly, and hybrid).

Product overview

NPAG is a women-founded, women-owned, and women-led executive search and consulting firm offering a unified suite of talent and organizational effectiveness services for mission-driven organizations. The core offering combines Executive Search with Consulting Services, which includes Organizational Development, Executive & Leadership Coaching, Leadership Transitions & Change, and Capacity Building & Culture & Restorative Practices. Supporting these are Succession Planning and Outplacement Coaching services. The firm offers flexible engagement models (flat fee, hourly, project-based, and hybrid) and has completed over 1,400 searches nationally and globally since its founding in 2002. All services are delivered by a team of 20+ professionals and are grounded in equity-centered, values-based approaches.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Search

Quantifiable outcome

• 71% of placements since 2021 identify as Black, Indigenous, and/or People of Color
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BoardSourceminorOthersNonprofit support organization for board leadership. NPAG has placed leaders at BoardSource and references them as a partner/client in their network.
• ACLU (multiple state affiliates)coreOthersACLU and multiple state affiliates (Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Washington State) have been clients of NPAG for executive search services.
• The California EndowmentcoreOthersMajor health foundation that has partnered with NPAG for executive search and leadership placement services.
• Nonprofit Finance Fund (NFF)minorOthersNonprofit financial advisory organization listed as a partner/client in NPAG's network.
• Philanthropy NorthwestminorOthersRegional philanthropy-serving organization in NPAG's partner/client network.
• W.K. Kellogg FoundationcoreOthersMajor national foundation that has engaged NPAG for executive search services.
• Ford FoundationcoreOthersMajor national foundation in NPAG's client network for executive search services.
• Council on FoundationsminorOthersNational philanthropy infrastructure organization and NPAG client for current search engagements.
• Robert Wood Johnson FoundationcoreOthersMajor health foundation in NPAG's client network.
• Planned Parenthood Federation of AmericacoreOthersMajor reproductive health organization and NPAG client.
• Living CitiesminorOthersPhilanthropic collaborative focused on urban inequality in NPAG's network.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Isaacson, Miller: Isaacson, Miller is one of the largest U.S. executive search firms focused exclusively on the nonprofit sector, conducting C-suite and senior leadership searches for foundations, advocacy organizations, higher education, and social justice groups—directly competing with NPAG for the same client base and engagements. Multiple NPAG team members previously worked at Isaacson, Miller.
• Koya Partners: Koya Partners is a national executive search firm dedicated to mission-driven organizations, including nonprofits, foundations, and educational institutions. It is a direct competitor to NPAG in equity-centered nonprofit search and has hired from and overlaps with NPAG's talent pool.
• Storbeck Search: Storbeck Search, part of Diversified Search Group, is a leading executive search firm serving K-12, higher education, and nonprofit clients. It directly competes with NPAG for senior leadership searches at foundations and large nonprofits, and has been a prior employer of NPAG consultants.

Broad incumbents

• Russell Reynolds Associates: Russell Reynolds Associates is a global executive search firm with a dedicated nonprofit, foundation, and social sector practice. While much broader in scope than NPAG, it competes for the same large-foundation and major-nonprofit CEO placements.
• Spencer Stuart: Spencer Stuart is a global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a longstanding nonprofit and education practice. It competes with NPAG for high-profile foundation and large nonprofit engagements while also serving corporate clients.
• Korn Ferry: Korn Ferry is a global organizational consulting firm with a major executive search practice serving nonprofits, foundations, and associations. It is a broader incumbent competing with NPAG on larger retained engagements, while also offering adjacent consulting services.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Heidrick & Struggles is a global executive search and leadership advisory firm with a social enterprise and nonprofit practice. It overlaps with NPAG at the senior end of foundation and large nonprofit searches.

Emerging players

• The Bridgespan Group: Bridgespan is a nonprofit consulting and executive search firm serving foundations, NGOs, and social impact organizations. While stronger in strategy consulting than search, it competes with NPAG for consulting and leadership advisory engagements with mission-driven clients.
• GDSI Leadership: GDSI Leadership was founded by NPAG's former CEO Katherine Jacobs and provides governance, design, search, and interim leadership support for mission-driven organizations. It is a closely related spin-off offering overlapping services to a similar client base.

Others

• BoardSource: BoardSource is a national nonprofit focused on nonprofit board leadership and governance. It is listed as an NPAG client/partner and represents an adjacent ecosystem player in nonprofit leadership and governance support, overlapping with NPAG's consulting and succession services.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses2 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nonprofit-professionals-advisory-group
• Xx.com/npagproperty
• Facebookfacebook.com/NonprofitProfessionals

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nonprofit Professionals Advisory Group