Ellen Heffernan is the chief executive officer of Spelman Johnson, a premier executive search firm committed to serving education, advocacy associations, and social impact organizations.
Ellen provides strategic and operational leadership of the firm and oversees its presidential search practice. Under her direction, Spelman Johnson has emerged as one of the nation’s most respected executive search firms. Over the course of its three decades of history, Spelman Johnson has conducted more than 2,000 searches in partnership with educational institutions, member based associations, and mission driven non-profits across the country. All of the firm’s consultants have significant experience in education, non-profit administration, and executive search, which enables them to understand the strategic challenges and cultures of their clients, deliver robust and diverse candidate pools, and provide an unrivaled level of client engagement.
In addition to leading Spelman Johnson and working directly with clients, Ellen serves on the faculty of several leadership development programs, including the American Association of Blacks in Higher Education (AABHE) Leadership and Mentoring Institute, NASPA—Senior Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, and College Board Middle State’s Mid-Level Institute professional development institutes. Ellen has published numerous articles and is valued for her thought leadership on talent acquisition, building organizational capacity, and issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion. She serves as an adviser to governing boards, presidents and chancellors, and other non-profit leaders and policymakers.
Ellen joined Spelman Johnson in 1996, after a ten year career in higher education that included positions at Smith College and the University of Massachusetts Amherst. A recipient of NASPA’s Pillar of the Profession Award, given for sustained professional distinction in higher education, Ellen has received many honors and awards, including the AABHE’s President’s Award and the Association of College and University Housing Officers-International’s Parthenon Award and S. Earl Thompson Award, to name a few. She currently serves on the board of the National Association of Executive Recruiters and is a member of the American Council on Education (ACE) Executive Search Roundtable and the Network of Non-Profit Search Consultants.