nonprofit exec search firm boston Archives

Search Success! Judy Pineda Neufeld Joins the Boston Athletic Association as Chief Community Officer

The Boston Athletic Association (the “B.A.A.”) and Pillar Search & HR Consulting, a nonprofit executive search firm, are pleased to announce the appointment of Judy Pineda Neufeld to the position of Chief Community Officer.

As the inaugural Chief Community Officer, Judy will engage with community members and organizations throughout Boston, the various cities and towns on and surrounding the Boston Marathon course, and beyond, creating and advancing an inclusive community strategy and related programming in alignment with the B.A.A.’s mission and vision. She will report directly to the B.A.A.’s Chief Executive Officer, Jack Fleming, and be part of the organization’s leadership team.

Judy’s first job out of college was as a community organizer and she has taken her organizing skills into her day-to-day work throughout her career. Through her time with the national nonprofit Emerge and the National Democratic Training Committee, Judy recruited, trained, and supported thousands of women and people of color to run for office. Most recently, she spent 10 years as a nonprofit leadership consultant, advising mission-driven organizations across the country on strategy and impact. Judy was also an entrepreneur and local small business owner, running women’s leadership workshops, trainings, and retreats with her business, Spark Sisterhood. Until June 2025, Judy served as the City of Somerville’s Ward 7 City Councilor and City Council President.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Judy moved to Greater Boston in 2001 to attend Tufts University, where she graduated cum laude, and completed her MBA with honors at Rollins College Crummer Graduate School of Business with a certification in Leadership Development.

Judy became a runner in 2013, and since then has participated in 27 half-marathons and 4 full marathons, including the 2018 Boston Marathon.

About the B.A.A.: The B.A.A. is a non-profit organization with a mission to promote a healthy lifestyle through sports, especially running. The B.A.A. is committed to a world where all people can access and benefit from running and an active lifestyle. The B.A.A. advances its mission and vision in a variety of ways, such as organizing mass-participatory running events like the Boston Marathon, creating or supporting community fitness events, and sponsoring a running club that serves the greater Boston area.

The B.A.A. is committed to fostering a workplace, community and events that celebrate differences, and create a sense of inclusion and belonging for all. To learn more about this wonderful organization, please visit www.baa.org.

About Pillar Search & HR Consulting: A woman-owned business based in Boston, Pillar Search & HR Consulting provides executive search/recruiting and human resources consulting expertise to nonprofit and mission-driven organizations, working with senior leaders and the boards of directors to hire and develop the very best talent across all functional areas of the organization. For more information about Pillar, please visit www.pillarsearch.com.

Onboard or Onward: Ensuring the Success of Your New Executive Hire

February 16, 2016 No Comments

“About 40% of executives who change jobs or get promoted fail in the first 18 months.”

Fortune Magazine

Where does it all go wrong? Too often, the onboarding process is where things fall apart. I am not talking about “orientation”, which often is done day one and generally involves the basics of assigning a building pass, conducting a benefits overviews, meeting the team and reading a few policies. Onboarding is a longer process, and if done well (typically in partnership with Human Resources and managed by the new executive’s manager, or the Board Chair if they report to the Board of Directors) can almost guarantee fit. It is holistic and gradual. It is also very deliberate, and will require constant check-ins and open communication. Here are five key activities that will help to ensure that your new executive will be successful in their new role:

Start to Onboard Before They are Actually ON BOARD!

The time between an offer being accepted and the executive starting is sensitive. They may be dealing with a counteroffer, having to say goodbye to much-loved colleagues, and are nervous about this new venture. Keep in touch. Reiterate your excitement to have them joining the team, and have a few people in the organization reach out. If there are organizational overviews, annual reports, strategic plans or other things that that they can read up on ahead of time, get those to them during this time so that they start to feel like part of the team.

Send an announcement out to the staff and the board a few days before their start date explaining their background and the job they are filling. This will help make them seem more familiar to the team when they come through the door, and as an added benefit they will not have to review their resume and background with absolutely everyone in their first week or so.

Relationship Before Task

Ideally, new executives will meet with their team and people across the organization. One-on-one meetings are great, but remind those who will be meeting with the executive to get to know them before delving into the inner workings of their role or the issues they face. Building rapport with new colleagues and direct reports is critical in the early days.

Learn By Doing

Too often, in an effort to get all the information to a new hire as soon as possible, they are introduced to processes way too soon. Guess what? They will not remember how to do an expense report or change their password or complete a sales report 30 to 60 days in when they actually need to do it if they are taught how to do it their first week. Have the right people meet with them at the start to review the process at a high level, and then have them set up a time to do it later when they can sit down with real data and learn from it real-time.

The Buddy System

What we learned in grade school still applies: the buddy system works when the new kid starts. This should not be the executive’s manager, but a peer or high-performing direct report who has longevity and the personality to be an effective buddy. The buddy can manage the nicety of taking them to lunch on day one and being available to explain the intricacies of culture, relationship dynamics, and certain pitfalls to avoid, which are things that the executive may not be comfortable asking of higher-ups.

Check In Early & Often

I too often hear that executives join, get a ton of attention the first day or two, and then are largely left on their own. It does not feel welcoming, and it runs the risk of them going in a direction that is difficult to course-correct later on. Meet with them daily, even for 10-15 minutes, in the first few weeks. Move on to twice weekly, weekly….you get the point. Let them know where they are doing a great job. Let them know where they need to take a different approach. But LET THEM KNOW. Being clear on what is a success will lead to more success.

While by no means a complete onboarding process, following the steps above will help to ensure that your new executive hire is one of the 60% who will be a success in the first 18 months.

Cindy Joyce is an Executive Recruiter and the Founder of Pillar Search, an Executive Search and HR Consulting firm located in Boston that works with clients nationwide. She can be reached here.