Success Stories

My purpose in writing is to express my appreciation for your guidance and support as we navigated the search process. Regardless of the outcome, it has been an extremely valuable experience!

As I mentioned over the phone last week, I am truly grateful for the professionalism with which Carney Sandoe conducted the search, and I conveyed that to the members of the Stuart Hall search committee. It is abundantly clear why Carney Sandoe possesses such a strong reputation throughout the educational community.

Again, I am grateful for everything you’ve done to make the search process first class. I hope that you and I will stay in touch no matter which direction the search committee chooses.

As a new head it was hard to trust myself. But Peter helped me learn to trust myself and work through the steps that would make it possible to hit the ground running. The work included getting clarity about my approach to leadership and what I needed to focus on at the start of my tenure.

Through conversations with Peter I was able to keep the 30,000-foot view of the school front and center and identity my priorities. I learned both the importance of balance in my work and my life and how to find it. As a new head of school, I was able to clarify my view that what matters most is focusing on the school culture and environment — creating a climate where students and adults thrive. This big-picture thinking has even distilled itself down to a simple guiding principle: “To look within and see beyond.”

We have really enjoyed working with you, Art Charles, and David Chojnacki. The value-add of your advice throughout the process, as well as your contacts within the international school world, have been incredible. We hope that you count on us as a reference going forward.

Carney Sandoe provided tremendous support to the Hockaday search. The breadth of the candidate pool, the connections within the independent school community, and the depth of the personal interviews with the candidates prior to meeting the search committee were all hallmarks. In particular, our consultants, Rayna and Aggie, were keenly aware of and sensitive to not only the requirements of the position but also the emotional needs of our school during our time of transition. They were accessible 24/7 and immediately responsive to all of our requests. The success of our search was due to their thorough process, their talented candidate pool, and their wise counsel along the way. I highly recommend CS&A for any independent school search.

I knew that a few people were feeling very nervous about the training, so I was pleasantly surprised to see many team members in my office stopping by to praise Lawrence and to express how meaningful and useful they found the training to be. I was able to see how many seeds Lawrence planted during his four hour session! People left with more questions than answers and I was happy to witness that because that is usually how you know someone was effective in their delivery. Our office is thinking about IB/DEI and questioning more than ever before, and I am excited to see us embracing conversations related to diversity and inclusion.

In the past we diverted such conversations to leaders of color and asked for their input on all issues of diversity and inclusion. Now I am seeing more of my white counterparts taking accountability and they are beginning to see these conversations as everyone's and not just for those with specific titles or skin tones. Overall, I do not think we could have asked for a better first training.

Lawrence Alexander and Carney, Sandoe & Associates' Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Practice helped make history at Maine Regional School Unit 21. Dr. Terri I. Cooper became the first female African American superintendent of schools in the history of the State of Maine. And it is all because of Lawrence and Carney Sandoe.

Maine Regional School Unit has been a district in crisis since a race-based harassment incident. After five changes in the superintendent seat in just the past 12 months, we reached out to a search firm for the first time in district history. We had serious doubters who didn’t think that Lawrence or CS&A could deliver value to a public school district. Yet, it took just one meeting to realize we had found a remarkable leader who could help us build our cultural fluency, create an inclusive (and virtual) hiring process, widen our choice of candidates, and hire an exceptional leader from a pool of highly qualified candidates.

Lawrence has gone viral in our surrounding towns, and I have watched as he has changed the way people think and act and compelled students, teachers, and community members to embrace the power of inclusion. Beyond sourcing an incredible new leader for our schools, beyond guiding our Board and inclusive hiring process, Lawrence has opened people’s minds and touched people’s hearts. We have been getting Lawrence and CS&A fan mail from our stakeholders! One young staff member wrote to say that being part of our inclusive interview committee has “helped me reshape some of my educational philosophies as I go on to become a certified teacher.” It does not get any better than that.

We couldn’t be more pleased with CS&A and more grateful for your firm’s courage and commitment to diversity and inclusion with game changers like Lawrence. We look forward to more collaborations as we continue our DEI journey, and believe that you have a timely and important point of view and services for all of Maine’s public education.

Ralph Davison conducted a workshop for the Indian Springs School Board of Governors in December 2019. Indian Springs School had just completed a search for the School's next long-term head of school, and Ralph's guidance was timely, substantive, and enormously valuable. Several members of the Board expressed the wish that we had asked him to conduct the workshop a couple of years earlier, and several others asked that we make plans to have him return.

I want to thank you and Ralph Davison for leading us through this process so meticulously. Your support and guidance have been invaluable. I know it is not over, and I look forward to working with both of you during the transition.

I cannot wind down after this busy day without taking the opportunity to once again thank you and praise you for your "platinum" presentation at Palmer Trinity this morning. From the very start, I was transfixed! Both the content of your talk and its presentation were transformational. As a veteran teacher, I can feel a bit jaded at times. But your magic reignited my spirit and reminded me of the need to always, always strive for excellence and do our utmost to motivate our young wards, as well as each other. Sir, I offer my most sincere thanks! I hope to cross paths again.

Lawrence's thoughtfulness, intelligence, and charisma are really something special. He is able to walk a very delicate line of being both approachable, kind, and forgiving, as well as challenging and thought provoking. With an intense topic like implicit bias, he was able to guide us forward into a series of discussions that may otherwise have felt overwhelming. Lawrence has a special talent as moderator, teacher, and soundboard. In addition, his deep understanding of the college admission process meant that our work together could launch right into the heart of our challenges. I would highly recommend Lawrence to any office.