Social Impact and Environment

Perrett Laver is one of the leading executive search firms working towards a better society through our Social Impact and Environment sectors. We believe passionately in the wider transformative benefits and value that organisations within these sectors bring.  We are deeply committed to advising organisations that promote change and demonstrate impact in these areas.

We advise humanitarian and development NGOs, domestic voluntary and community organisations, environment and sustainability organisations, philanthropic foundations, research institutes and think tanks, governments and international institutions, as well as impact investors and social enterprise organisations on world-class appointments. We have a deep passion for the outcomes and impact our clients and candidates deliver in society and for the planet.

Our mission is to identify and engage with inspiring and diverse leaders who will lead organisations as they find solutions and tackle the challenges facing communities and ecosystems. We provide outstanding executive search and professional leadership advice and support, based upon a deep understanding of the sectors we serve, the contexts in which we operate, and by taking both a global and local approach, and with a deep commitment to diversity in all its forms. By attracting and retaining the very best talent, our clients can foster a culture and set of behaviours which ultimately enhance their ability to live their values and deliver on their mission.

How We Think

Where We Can help

INGOs

Perrett Laver is the leading executive search firm serving the INGO sector. We have significant expertise in working to identify leaders who can move on a global (commonly South-North, South-South) and often cross-sectoral basis and have been privileged to work with many of the leading and innovative organisations working across the sector on both non-executive and executive level roles.

Domestic Non Profits

We also focus on domestic non-profit sectors around the globe and our experience and expertise in these span the full gamut of senior management team portfolios alongside Chair, Trustee, and Chief Executive-level appointments for small, entrepreneurial, founder-led organisations to the largest charitable funders. In the UK, for example, we have worked with around one third of the top 154 charity brands to date.

Philanthropic Foundations

Perrett Laver has significant experience in advising philanthropic organizations whose desire is to promote the well-being of others as expressed financially through the generation donation of individuals, communities and corporations. These organizations are promoting ideas, events or actions that aspire to create conditions for people to thrive or underserved causes to be address.

Environment and Sustainability

The sustainability spectrum is broad and Perrett Laver has covered a number of roles across the sector. This spectrum covers organizations like, Green Climate Fund as the funding instrument for the UN Framework on the Convention of Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Environmental Defense Fund who are working on sustainability issues that protect the indigenous communities’ way of life, WorldFish on sustainable food security, to Greenpeace International who is campaigning on the negative effects of global environmental and climate change on society.

We also have been involved in the leadership of environmental and climate think-tanks through the public private partnership organization entitled, Climate-KIC (knowledge information centre). We also have worked in the ESG standards for the private sector to show compliance with sustainability standards through our work with the Global Reporting Initiative.

Impact Investment and Social Enterprise

The flows of capital have changed the way the world does and seeks to do business. Through a social conscious awakening of responsible investing, investors are creating more demand for investments with a “triple bottom-line” including social, environmental and financial returns. These investments are not new but have recently been coined with the term, impact investing.

Perrett Laver has been on the ground floor in advising organizations including Big Society Capital, Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN), VisionFund International, Oikocredit Coop and Gary Community Investments in their pivotal roles as the field of impact investing and social enterprise grows.

Research and Think Tanks Institutes

Perrett Laver has a significant track record of supporting research institutes and think tanks around the world. Our work with think tanks and research institutes covers a full breadth of functions and topics such as social policy, economics, international development, environment and sustainability, technology, and culture.

Through all our work with this sector, including senior appointments for IDS, ODI, APHRC and WorldFish, we have highlighted the importance of combining both technical expertise and academic credibility with strategic leadership. Of great importance is the ability to sustain and grow these organisations in an incredibly challenging funding and policy environment.

Government and International Institutions

Perrett Laver has a substantial track record of advising Government and International Institutions. During a time of increased demand for efficiencies and increased pressure on economies and infrastructure, we understand the need for exceptional leadership that combines emotional intelligence, operational capacity and strategic vision.

We are experienced in providing advisory and search support for core government departments, non-departmental public bodies and associated organisations, as well as organisations with an international membership, scope, or presence.

Who to talk to

Recent Social Impact and Environment Clients

Recent Social Impact and Environment Appointments

Perrett Laver appoints new leadership team as company embarks on

11th May, 2023: Perrett Laver, the leading purpose-driven international executive search firm, announces the appointment of a new Global Leadership Team to steer the company through its next phase of growth.  Arabella Chichester, Dr Sinead Gibney and Tom Weinberg, will take over from Co-Founders Dan Perrett and Simon Laver, who after 20 years, will transition to non-executive roles in the employee-owned company. Arabella Chichester and Dr Sinead Gibney will be appointed as Global Senior Partners and will be responsible for the long-term strategic development and accelerating commercial growth of the company. Arabella has been at Perrett Laver for twelve years and has been Global Head of the Social…

A WAKE-UP CALL: Cross-Sectoral Diversity and Board Room Equality

In March 2023, Perrett Laver and the Berlin Research 50 (BR50) joined forces and launched their cooperation at EMST Berlin, led by Dr. Nicole Shea, our Managing Partner for Germany, and Dr. Anja Sommerfeld, BR50. Chaired by Alexander S. Wolf, CEO of Stiftung AusserGewöhnlich Berlin, the panel comprised of Jutta Allmendinger, President of Wissenschaftszentrum Berlinfür Sozialforschung (WZB), Ole Bækhøj, Director of the Pierre Boulez Saal, Sabine Kunst, Chair of the Board of the Joachim Herz Stiftung and Maike Sander, Scientific Director and Chair of the Board of the Max Delbrück Center discussed the importance of networking and mentoring to push diversity and equality initiatives in the workplace.  The long-term goal of the program is to overcome gender inequality in terms of salaries and to support women in reaching leadership positions. The program addresses aspiring and experienced female scientists…

Perrett Laver appoints three new Partners

Leading international executive search firm, Perrett Laver, has announced three new partners – as the business invests in its global talent. Dedicated to supporting the appointment of leaders in purpose-driven organisations set to change the world, Perrett Laver has promoted three expert leaders to the Partnership. The new Partners are: Siobhan Doherty, Partner, Global Development and Rights Lead, International Organisations Lead & Africa Lead – during her significant tenure of 10 years with the firm andwith a focus on global development and human rights, Siobhan has worked with social impact organisations across the globe. She brings a particular passion for rights-based organisations and has…

Announcing new members of our leadership team

After an extensive global search, Rushda Majeed has been appointed Chief Programme Officer of the Bernard van Leer Foundation. In this role, she will oversee our programmes worldwide. Rushda joins Neil van der Meer who was appointed Chief Financial Officer at the beginning of this year. Rushda MajeedRushda has been with the Foundation since 2017 as the Foundation’s India Representative. In this role, she greatly expanded the impact of our work in India through an innovative series of partnerships at the intersection of urban development, public health and early childhood development. Prior to Van Leer, Rushda worked across a diverse range…

ASC’s Supervisory Board welcomes new chair and five new members

ASC’s Supervisory Board has welcomed a number of new members recently, including a new chair, Margret Thalwitz, who brings to the role decades of experience in academia and organisations such as the World Bank. Margret is a Development Economist who has had a long career at the World Bank. Among other senior positions she was leading the Bank’s Global Partnership Department prior to leaving for a sabbatical year in Oxford to study the governance of global food security. She has been a consultant on development strategy, a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Global Cooperation Research and a member of…

Lyndall Stein appointed new Chair of the Board of Trustees

Lyndall Stein has been appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees of CARE International UK. She will take up her post from 1 August 2022. Lyndall will be succeeding Carolyn Clarke who stepped down in 2021 after serving her term as Chair. Lyndall Stein said: “I am honoured to have been selected to be Chair of Care International UK and to work with them on the critical issues they are dedicated to changing for the better –the challenges faced by women and girls, especially in times of crisis and conflict, growing poverty and inequality, and the devastating impact of climate change.” Throughout Lyndall’s 30-year…