After university, I think it is safe to say that like most recruiters I didn’t set out in this industry from passion but rather necessity and curiosity. I joined Dartmouth Partners as one of the founding employees, establishing our Early Careers team to support our Classroom to Boardroom recruitment model and quickly surprised myself with a realisation: I loved what I was doing. Partnering with talent in securing their first placements and then supporting them through their career is a privilege, with the majority becoming clients and a few along the way, good friends. I’ve experienced many personal highs and lows over the years with Dartmouth and have helped our teams navigate through their own losses and wins. I have always endeavoured to embrace every new opportunity with the same curiosity I had eleven years ago.
As I now step into my new role as CEO of Dartmouth Partners, I feel incredibly privileged to be in a position to lead the business into its next phase of exciting growth. We have achieved so much since the early days of eight people in what can only be described as a broom cupboard, and there is still much more we can do for the betterment of the firms (most of whom are dynamic and fast-growing themselves,) that we represent, and for the talented candidates that we support. The future will always be intangible (although challenges are certain), but I am sure of my responsibilities to our clients, candidates, and my colleagues.
We have ambitious expansion plans internationally, whilst continuing to deliver strong results in our existing markets (UK, US, and Europe), growing our specialist teams, and leading on a brand refresh in 2024 to ensure that Dartmouth is a reflection of the world our candidates live in today. Although it can be hard for any executive to reflect on the wins (especially when you’re perpetually chasing the next one), I look back and recognise the many successes that the team at Dartmouth has been able to achieve.
Three milestones stand out to me – first, the Early Careers team has matured into the largest and highest revenue-generating division within the business; second, navigating the team through a significant chapter of the business’ life during the challenges of 2020, and its ongoing impact; and, third, our commitment to diversity, culminating most recently in the launch of our Classroom to Boardroom Foundation.
Notably, 55% of Dartmouth’s placements into private equity and venture capital over the last two years were female versus a recruitment market average of c.25%, an achievement that I as a female CEO in a male-dominated industry appreciate. Although this is a huge win, we know that there is still a lot more work to be done when it comes to representation across all spectrums, which is why we’ve spent the last three years building our Classroom to Boardroom Foundation, which focuses on improving access to career opportunities for students from underprivileged socioeconomic backgrounds.
To that end, I am extremely thankful to Logan (who will step into the role of CEO at Kernel Global), to our valued clients and candidates for a fulfilling first eleven years, the entire team at Dartmouth Partners, and to my family for their unequivocal support of my decision to take on the reins as CEO.
I truly believe that we are changing a person’s life, one career-making-moment at a time.