Sam Pettway

Sam Pettway is the Founding Director of BoardWalk Consulting, an executive search firm dedicated to "building strong foundations for nonprofits."® Since 2002, Sam and his colleagues at BoardWalk have served the leadership and governance needs of over 125 national, regional and local nonprofits and foundations based in at least 17 states and the District of Columbia.

A graduate of the University of Virginia and Harvard Business School, Sam is a career-long veteran of executive search. Prior to launching BoardWalk, he spent over 20 years as a partner with two global firms, Egon Zehnder International (for which he opened the Atlanta office) and Spencer Stuart.

Over the years, Sam has served as chair or senior trustee of numerous nonprofits and foundations, service that has helped inform his understanding of the unique relationship that exists among board, staff and stakeholders in the philanthropic universe.

Commitment to diversity has been a consistent hallmark of BoardWalk’s work, and a solid majority of the leaders the firm has recruited for its clients have been women or people of color. As part of BoardWalk’s investment in nonprofit leadership, the firm awards scholarships each year in support of Harvard Business School’s program for trustees entitled "Governing for Nonprofit Excellence: Critical Issues for Board Leadership." This year, BoardWalk will award its 40th such scholarship.

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