Search Mandate
1% for the Planet is a highly regarded global nonprofit, whose members pledge 1% of annual sales to preserve and restore our planet’s natural environments. Due to significant growth, 1% for the Planet sought to hire a Vice President of Finance and Operations to align bold fiscal and business operations strategies with the organization’s core values and vision. Also critical: Someone with both technology and team leadership tenure who could gracefully navigate legacy systems while eagerly developing new processes to stay ahead of coming challenges.
Enter Noto Group.
Our Approach
CEO Kate Williams knew she needed an executive recruiting partner that had access to a deep pipeline of mission-driven leaders across a range of industry segments. This would yield a diversity of candidates who wanted to apply a blended for-profit and not-for-profit skillset to a new career opportunity they found personally meaningful and globally impactful.
Noto Group also counseled for opening the position to remote candidates, which would expand the talent pool and better ensure that the hire would bring a rare but crucial mix of financial and operational expertise along with a passion for the nonprofit’s mission.
Williams also appreciated the authentic relationships she’d witnessed Noto Group stewarding across the executive talent pipeline, having seen the B-Corp-certified agency show up to events like Mo-Impact to keep abreast of how the impact space is evolving.
“Noto Group brings a personalized and relationship-driven engagement, creating a better experience for the hiring organization as well as the candidates.”
— Kate Williams, CEO, 1% for the Planet
Results
Within 89 days of the search start, 1% for the Planet secured an optimal hire. Justin Egdorf brings the complementary blend of global financial and business operations experience that was key for the role, and — equally ideal — had honed that unique mix of expertise through a background in both the not-for-profit and for-profit sectors.
Egdorf had been aware of the organization but didn’t know about the job opportunity until Noto Group discovered him through their broad and multilayered talent network.
He appreciated how Noto helped him clearly understand the real needs of the organization before quickly engaging him with the hiring team, and then kept up continual communication while facilitating the recruiting process from start to finish. “There was no bait and switch,” Egdorf said. “When you’re going into a new job opportunity, you always hope the challenges they’re facing are things you’ve got the experience and skills to solve. It was great work by Noto Group to find me and identify that my values and abilities align with what 1% for the Planet needs.”
Those talents have paid dividends for the nonprofit since Egdorf joined in spring of 2023 — when he immediately saw that the culture matched the expectations Noto Group had set: people-first from the top down. Under his leadership, 1% for the Planet has outpaced impact targets in getting resources to organizations around the world dedicated to addressing the climate crisis. They’ve continued to grow and extend their global mindset, aided by his global growth background. “It’s fun because it’s all for a good cause and a good end.”
“It was great work by Noto Group to find me and identify that my values and abilities align with what 1% for the Planet needs.”
— Justin Egdorf, VP of Finance and Operations, 1% for the Planet
