JAMES ZANIELLO: Vice President

Quote:
“This can be a stressful process and I try to make it personable and fun. I make sure we have a strong relationship with the client, that they are comfortable and not anxious, and that they enjoy working with us.”

Mantra/Philosophy:
“It’s all about the client.”

Accreditations/Affiliations: American Society of Association Executives, National Alumni Association Board, St. Bonaventure University

Jim conducts ASI’s searches, sizing up client needs and unearthing superior candidates to meet them.

Two decades of insider perspective as a senior association executive make Jim uncommonly effective. Since joining Association Strategies in 2000, he has successfully filled dozens of high-stakes non-profit positions by tailoring his search techniques to each individual client and by tapping just the right candidates from his wide network of contacts. Taking the process from start to finish, Jim also helps negotiate an appropriate compensation package and integrate the new executive into the organization. With a well-developed background in organization development, Jim paves the way for future growth.

Jim’s love of the search and network of senior executives blossomed during his tenure as Managing Director of the firm that publishes CEO Job Opportunities Update, the definitive tool for nonprofit executive search. He also expanded his arsenal of organization development techniques as he grew the company’s output from a single newsletter to five, and extended the firm’s product lines and service offerings.

Because he has been an Executive Director, Jim understands the demands and nuances of the job. As a senior executive with association management giant SmithBucklin, Jim served as Executive Director of the OsteoArthritis Research Society International, for which he grew membership, raised visibility, increased conference attendance and sustained an award-winning journal. As the Executive Director for a start-up community financial services association, Jim worked with the organization’s diverse membership to develop consensus positions that served as the platform for government affairs and media activities. When recruiting an interim executive director, Jim scouts for someone who can quickly grasp an organization’s strategic priorities and keep them moving forward, the same skills he applied when he served as interim Executive Director for the American Federation of Medical Research. Eight years in the membership and communications departments of national trade associations rounds out Jim’s soup-to-nuts knowledge of the not-for-profit world.

While engaged in a search, Jim tries to keep the environment low stress, assuming the client’s burdens and operating with reassuring confidence. He keeps the parties talking, acts as the go-between for the search committee and the candidates, and mediates potentially touchy issues such as compensation and benefits. In the end, he serves the client by treating all candidates with respect, taking their phone calls and answering their questions, leaving even unsuccessful candidates with a happy and favorable impression of the client’s organization.

Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communication from St. Bonaventure University in southwestern New York State. He has completed graduate level coursework in association management at The George Washington University in Washington, DC. A frequent speaker on managing non-profit careers and achieving the position of CEO, Jim has also contributed articles to highly regarded industry publications.

Jim is an active member of the American Society of Association Executives and has served as Chair of the organization’s political action committee (APAC.) He is on the National Alumni Association Board of St. Bonaventure University, and serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Health Accreditation Program, an independent, non-profit accrediting body for community-based health care organizations. He previously served on the Board of Directors of SeniorNet, a national organization focused on bringing technology access and education to adults aged 50 and over.