Company: DRG Talent (Teaneck, NJ)
Company Description: For more than 30 years, DRG has offered a suite of services to help purpose-driven organizations search for, attract, and nurture innovative, diverse leadership for their organizations. We also help organizations maximize their impact through talent assessments, transition planning, and providing insights into compensation and organizational design.
Nomination Category: Company / Organization Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Company of the Year - Diversified Service Industries - Small
 Nomination Title: DRG Talent
- Which will you submit for your nomination in this category, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the achievements of the nominated organization since January 1 2022, OR written answers to the questions for this category? (Choose one):
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this first question: Briefly describe the nominated organization: its history and past performance (up to 200 words):
Total 199 words used.
For more than 36 years, Development Resource Group (DRG), now DRG Talent, has partnered with nonprofit organizations to recruit their executive leaders. In 1987, we began by helping nonprofits find exceptional talent to lead their fundraising and development efforts. In 2017, we had grown into a team of 15 with an annual budget of approximately $3MM and serving nonprofits of every size to fill every role in the C-suite.
In 2018 our current CEO, Dara Klarfeld, implemented a new vision and transformed this executive search organization into a talent advisory group. We expanded our mission and services to support not only nonprofits but also purpose driven organizations to search for, attract, and nurture innovative, diverse leadership for their organizations. We further support our clients’ success through talent assessments, transition planning, compensation analysis, organizational design, and executive coaching, ensuring that each organization’s leaders and their teams can thrive.
Today, we are a team of 46 with an annual budget of $9.5MM and we support over 100 clients each year. Our efforts have served to diversify leadership in the purpose-driven sector with more than 70% of our executive placements going to women and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) leaders.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this second question: Outline the organization's achievements since the beginning of 2022 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
Total 241 words used.
Between 2022 and 2023, we have supported over 250 clients in identifying their next senior leader, seeing a 53% increase in revenues and a 65% increase in the number of clients served from 2021-2022. We upgraded our executive search processes to include compensation benchmarking and executive transition services to better equip our clients. In addition to our executive search work, we expanded our organizational consulting services to include outsourced HR services and managerial training and have continued to develop our organizational consulting portfolio, boosting revenue by nearly 10%.
Our extended service lines have also aided in implementing our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We have demonstrated growth in BIPOC placed leaders from 24% in 2021 to 40% in 2023 and female-identifying leaders from 62% in 2021 to 70% in 2023. We have also continued our annual pro bono program, partnering with organizations in the reproductive justice and healthcare spaces to support the important impact they have on the communities they serve.
In the last two years, our team has grown by 43%, allowing us to not only maximize our impact in the talent advisory space, but also continue to develop our benefits to better support our robust team. We recently celebrated our 2022 successes with a team trip to Mexico and have launched a quarterly profit-sharing program to augment our existing commission and bonus structures, resulting in 10.5% of revenue redistributed to our team members over and above salaries.
- If you are providing written answers for your submission, you must provide an answer to this third question: Explain why the achievements you have highlighted are unique or significant. If possible compare the achievements to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
Total 223 words used.
Between our founding in 1987 and 2017, DRG’s annual budget grew to $3MM. Since 2018, under CEO Dara Klarfeld’s leadership, DRG has grown by 130% to a current annual budget of $9.5MM. This growth occurred despite COVID-19, when similar firms went out of business, fielded acquisitions, and/or faced financial troubles. During this time, DRG also partnered with and acquired Wickenden Associates, a leading independent school search firm, further diversifying our portfolio and positioning us as a leader within the industry.
This strategic expansion, combined with the pre-COVID decision to broaden our services from executive search to a comprehensive range of talent services, significantly impacted our ability to grow and thrive as an organization and better positioned us to positively influence the sector. We have used this access and influence to educate and train our nonprofit clients on how to reduce bias and increase inclusivity in all aspects of their talent operations and processes with the goal of creating workplaces where all people thrive and where leaders prioritize DEI when making key decisions for their organizations.
Our in-house DEI consultant and organizational psychologist support and drive this work by facilitating continuous learning for our team and improvement cycles for our services. This has resulted in increasing our rate of BIPOC placements by 16% and our rate of female-identifying placements by 13% since 2022.
- You have the option to answer this final question: Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 156 words used.
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