Case Study

An Executive Director search on a very short timeline.

DPAC · Democracy Prep at the Agassi Campus·Las Vegas, NV·2026
1week
From final interview to onboarding
The new Executive Director accepted the position and onboarded within about a week of the final interview.
June 1
Executive Director start date
The search stayed on schedule through a critical transition, with the new leader in seat without delay.
Zero
Internal search capacity required
The board engaged Stronger immediately rather than running the search internally, saving a tremendous amount of time.

Stronger did not waste my or my colleagues' time. They helped us find a high-quality Executive Director to fill a role with immediate need and impact.

Maliq Hendricks, Board Member, DPAC
The Challenge

A leadership transition that couldn't wait

Democracy Prep at the Agassi Campus (DPAC), a K-12 public charter school in Historic West Las Vegas, needed to hire a new Executive Director on a very short timeline. The organization's sitting leader had decided not to participate in an open search, and the board did not have the internal capacity to run a comprehensive search itself.

The timing raised the stakes. DPAC had just transitioned to becoming an independent state charter, so having the right leader in place was critical. Hiring the wrong Executive Director, or leaving the position vacant for too long, would have slowed momentum and created uncertainty for the organization and the board.

  • 1
    An urgent vacancy

    The need surfaced quickly once the sitting Executive Director chose not to pursue the role, and there was no time for a lengthy search process.

  • 2
    A critical transition

    As a newly independent state charter, DPAC needed a leader who could guide the organization through the transition without creating unnecessary disruption.

  • 3
    No internal capacity

    The board did not have the time or capacity to manage the process, so running the search internally was never a realistic option.

The Approach

A comprehensive search, run at speed

First
Engage immediately

DPAC brought Stronger in right away to keep the leadership transition moving without delay, with a process built for urgency from the start.

Then
Manage the full search

Stronger led a comprehensive Executive Director search, managing the process from screening through board interviews.

Next
Structure the evaluation

Multiple interview stages gave the board increasing confidence in the candidates, while scoring rubrics and candidate summaries made it easier for the board to make informed decisions without everyone comparing resumes on their own.

Finally
Close quickly

The chosen candidate accepted the position and onboarded within about a week of the final interview, starting June 1.

Outcomes

What DPAC gained

An Executive Director in seat
The search ended with a successful hire who accepted the position and started June 1, allowing DPAC to move forward confidently.
A process that saved the board time
The engagement was professional, organized, flexible, and efficient, making a complex executive search feel manageable for a board with limited capacity.
Confidence in the decision
The structure of the interviews and the candidate evaluations made the board's decision-making stronger than anticipated.
Positioned for the next phase
The transition positioned DPAC well for its next chapter as an independent state charter, and the organization is already discussing future work with Stronger.
Stronger Insight
Urgent searches succeed on structure. DPAC's board needed to move fast, but speed without discipline is how organizations make the wrong hire. Clear interview stages, scoring rubrics, and candidate summaries let the board decide quickly and with confidence, at a moment that mattered for their future as an independent state charter.
Ron Rapatalo, Partner, Stronger Consulting

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