What Ray And Associates does

Ray & Associates is a privately held American professional services firm specializing in executive search for the education sector. The firm partners with school boards and district leadership teams nationwide to recruit superintendents, principals, and central office administrators for public school districts, charter schools, and higher education institutions. Beyond core executive searches, the firm offers Leadership and Executive Coaching, Board Governance Training, Reliable Recruiting K-12 for part-time and full-time staffing, and Strategic Partnership Retainers for ongoing district support. Operations are delivered through a nationwide network of regional search associates—many former superintendents and district leaders—coordinated from a Minneapolis headquarters.

The firm's commercial model is fee-for-service professional services: school districts engage Ray & Associates on a per-search basis with proposal-based pricing, and no fees are charged to candidates. Go-to-market is sales-led and relationship-driven, relying on the Request A Proposal intake process, the regional associate network, and an online Candidate Registration Portal that captures passive and active educator candidates. Supporting platform features include the candidate portal, an Associate Program for recruiting seasoned professionals into the network, and a public Job Opportunities Listing.

Ray & Associates is organized as Ray and Associates Inc., domiciled in Minnesota, and has been operating in the educational executive search niche for more than four decades (firmographic founding year 1975; company record 1980). Leadership comprises President Michael Collins, Executive Vice President Molly Schwarzhoff, and Vice President Kathy Schoenfelder. The firm is independently owned with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or external funding, and it does not publicly disclose revenue.

Name

Ray And Associates

Legal name

Ray and Associates Inc.

Website

https://rayassoc.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Ray & Associates is a private US executive search firm that recruits superintendents, principals, and central office leaders for public school districts, charter schools, and higher education institutions nationwide, supported by coaching, governance, and staffing services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Executive Search Services

NAICS

Executive Search Services (561312)

SIC

Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

C-Suite & Board Search (BPACAAAA)

Keywords

• Educational executive search
• Superintendent recruiting
• Leadership search services
• School board governance training
• K-12 leadership staffing

Headquarters

HQ city

Cedar Rapids

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

Revenue model

1. Executive Search Services: Professional fees charged to school districts for executive leadership searches. The firm recruits superintendents, principals, and other central office leaders on a per-engagement basis, with fees typically tied to the scope and seniority of the search. The firm does not charge candidates fees, indicating the revenue flows entirely from district clients.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Ray & Associates is an educational executive search firm that recruits superintendents, principals, and central office leaders for K-12 public school districts, charter schools, and higher education institutions. The firm pairs districts with a nationwide network of regional search associates, conducts listening-based candidate searches, and supplements recruiting with leadership coaching, board governance training, K-12 staffing, and strategic partnership retainers.

Product overview

Ray & Associates operates as a unified educational executive search platform offering five integrated core services: Executive Leadership Searches for recruiting superintendents and central office leaders, Leadership and Executive Coaching for professional development, Reliable Recruiting K-12 for staffing needs, Board Governance Training for governance alignment, and Strategic Partnership Retainers for ongoing leadership support. The platform is supported by a web-based Candidate Registration Portal for job seekers, an Associate Program for recruiting professionals, and a Job Opportunities Listing for browsing current openings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Executive Leadership Searches Customized executive search services for school districts, charter schools, and higher education institutions, recruiting superintendents and central office leaders aligned with district goals and community values.
• Leadership and Executive Coaching Individual and team assessments, coaching, and support services designed to help K-12 education leaders grow, excel, and navigate their careers.
• Reliable Recruiting K-12 Staffing services filling part-time, temporary, and full-time positions with vetted, high-quality talent, from recruitment through onboarding.
• Board Governance Training Board and superintendent governance assessments with customized training designed around each team's unique needs to establish early alignment, trust, and effective decision-making.
• Strategic Partnership Retainer On-demand access to experienced leadership support tailored to district size, scope, and priorities, enabling faster action, smarter planning, and reduced reactive consulting disruption.
• Candidate Registration Portal Online portal for candidates to register and receive notifications of new job openings, submit applications, and manage their employment profile for leadership positions.
• Associate Program Program for experienced professionals, including former superintendents and district leaders, to join the search associate network.
• Job Opportunities Listing Online listing platform for browsing current open leadership positions in education across districts nationwide.

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Iowa Association of School Boards: Statewide Iowa school board association that delivers superintendent search services and governance training to its member districts. Comparable service offering and target customer but operates within Iowa only and through a member-benefit model.
• Illinois Association of School Boards (IASB): Statewide K-12 board association that provides superintendent search services and governance training to Illinois school districts as a member benefit. Comparable service offering but limited geographically to Illinois, and delivered through a member-association model rather than a fee-for-service firm.

Direct peers

• Witt/Kieffer: One of the largest executive search firms dedicated to education, healthcare and nonprofit leadership. Witt/Kieffer runs a dedicated education practice recruiting superintendents, college presidents and senior education administrators - the closest direct strategic comparable to Ray & Associates in scale, segment and service mix.
• McPherson & Jacobson, L.L.C. Educational executive search firm providing superintendent, principal and central office recruitment primarily to public school districts nationwide. Direct boutique competitor with the same customer base and core service offering as Ray & Associates.
• Hazard, Young, Attea & Associates (HYA): Boutique executive search firm focused exclusively on K-12 superintendent and central office leadership searches across the US. Closely comparable in target customer (public school boards), service offering (executive search) and boutique size profile to Ray & Associates.
• Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges (AGB): National membership organization for college and university governing boards that also conducts executive searches for college and university presidents. Directly comparable in Ray & Associates' higher-education search segment, particularly for presidential and senior administrator placements.
• BWP & Associates: K-12 educational executive search firm providing superintendent, deputy superintendent and central office leadership recruitment. Operates in the same niche boutique search segment as Ray & Associates with the same district-board customer base.
• Leadership Associates: Educational executive search firm specializing in K-12 superintendent and administrator placement for school districts nationwide. Directly comparable in mission, customer segment and search methodology to Ray & Associates.

Broad incumbents

• Heidrick & Struggles: Global executive search and leadership advisory firm serving education-sector clients at the executive level across functions. Competes with Ray & Associates for senior education leadership engagements but as part of a much broader, diversified portfolio.
• Korn Ferry: Global executive search firm with a dedicated Education Practice serving K-12 districts, charter management organizations and higher education institutions. Much larger and broader than Ray & Associates, but actively competes in the same education executive search category.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ray_associates
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/rayassociatesinc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Ray And Associates