Gerard leads Diversified Search Group’s Fundraising & Advancement Practice, which he established in 2000 shortly after joining the firm from an earlier career in major gifts fundraising. This specialty practice leverages decades of combined expertise from its dedicated team members, several of whom also previously served as frontline fundraising leaders for various nonprofits and higher education institutions in addition to their work as executive search practitioners focused on fundraising and advancement leadership. Today, this practice partners with mission-based clients ranging from the nation’s largest, most prestigious nonprofits to grassroots organizations operating on a smaller scale, thereby placing leaders who make tremendous impact throughout the global NGO space, higher education, healthcare, arts and culture, human rights, conservation, human services, and beyond. The practice has completed more than 500 successful searches during its history.

As Diversified Search Group’s centralized resource for fundraising and advancement search, Gerard and the team he leads play a significant role in all related searches across the broader firm comprising wholly owned boutique search firms serving specialized sectors, and frequently collaborating with other DSG-owned companies, Koya Partners, Storbeck Search, and Grant Cooper. A thought leader in optimizing philanthropic entities and contributed revenue through strategic leadership appointments, Gerard frequently participates in panel discussions and convenings with other leaders in the field of philanthropy about fundraising talent management. He has collaborated extensively with prominent fundraising and advancement consultancies nationwide as well as with some of their most significant clients.

Prior to initiating his career in executive search, Gerard spent a decade in key fundraising positions within a variety of leading arts, cultural, and educational institutions. He joined Diversified Search in 1999 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he served in the central Office of Development and Alumni Relations and as Regional Director of Major Gifts for the Wharton School. While at Wharton, he was part of the fundraising team that crafted the school’s historic $450 million Campaign for Sustained Leadership.

Gerard’s volunteer service includes serving as a board member of Friends in Adoption in Poultney, Vermont. He is an emeritus member of the Human Rights Campaign Board of Governors and The Crosby Fund for Haitian Education Board of Trustees, respectively, as well as a former Big Brother with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Pennsylvania and a master’s degree in public administration from the Fels Institute of Government at the University of Pennsylvania.

Diversified Search Group is the only generalist, top-10 executive search firm in the U.S. to maintain a practice dedicated to senior-level searches in fundraising and advancement. Based on our principles as a woman-founded firm and corresponding commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, we have been actively engaging diverse leaders in fundraising and advancement since Gerard’s practice was established more than 20 years ago. We are proud of our second consecutive ranking on the Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy list of the “Top 10 Executive Search Firms that work for women of color.”

Education

MGA, Government Administration
University of Pennsylvania Fels Center for Government

BA, Communications
University of Pennsylvania