Pamela Cook, ACFRE, is the Founder and Principal of Pamela Cook Development Search. She has conducted searches for nonprofit development professionals since 2000. Pam has thirty years experience in philanthropy. Pam has worked as community relations manager for The Clorox Company, and in senior development positions at Stanford University School of Engineering, the California Academy of Sciences, the University of Virginia, and the United Way of Silicon Valley.

Pam was president of the board of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She served on the Board of the SEMI Foundation, on the West Coast Regional Advisory Board of the Institute of International Education, and on the board of the Fulbright Association. She was a Big Sister for ten years. A graduate of Duke University (BA), University of Virginia (MA), and a Fulbright Scholar at the Australian National University, Pam received a certificate in corporate community relations from Boston College. She has also completed the Stanford Advanced Management College, the Coro Community Leaders Program, Leadership Oakland, and the Environmental Forum of Marin. Pam was named as the 2003 Hank Rosso Outstanding Fundraising Executive by the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Executives and Northern California Grantmakers. Pam is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and the Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants. She is a registered Fundraising Counsel with the State of California.

Paul Gietzel serves as Business Manager. Paul holds an MBA from Stanford University where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar. He has over 25 years of experience in financial management, personnel management, and information technology. Paul worked as a senior operations executive for a number of Bay Area consulting and software firms and served as Vice President for Shearson, Lehman, Hutton (a Wall Street securities firm), and as a Senior Financial Analyst for Bank of America. In these roles, Paul recruited and trained more than fifty senior managers. Paul is also an active volunteer for youth and education organizations. He has been a Big Brother and has coached a range of youth activities from basketball to mathletes.

Victoria Silverman serves as one of our search consultants. She is the Founder and Principal of VLS Strategies. She has worked in philanthropy for more than thirty years. Victoria has worked throughout her career for such organizations as Stanford University, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of California, the American Film Institute, American Friends of the Hebrew University, the Buck Institute for Age Research and several others. In 2002, Silverman launched her private practice, VLS Strategies. VLS Strategies is a consultancy practice focused on assisting non-profit management, start-up companies, and small businesses. Victoria is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (BA) and attended St. Louis University School of Law. She has been a "heavy hitter" speaker for the Council for Advancement and Support of Education and has served on many fundraising panels for organizations including the Association of Fundraising Professionals. Victoria is a member of the Board of Directors of the Golden Gate Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals.

Cheryl A. Clarke, JD interviews job candidates for us. Cheryl is a fundraising consultant, trainer and author of Storytelling for Grantseekers and Grant Proposal Makeover published by Jossey-Bass. She works with nonprofit organizations - large and small - to improve their fundraising capacity.  She has held senior development positions at USF, UCSF and the Marine Mammal Center. She is a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the American Association of Grant Professionals, and is on the board of Development Executives Roundtable. Cheryl is a graduate of Northwestern University and the University of San Francisco School of Law.

Andrea Zafer Evans interviews job candidates for us. Andrea has eighteen years of professional and volunteer experience in the community, with a focus on individual, major gift and capital campaign fundraising. Andrea has worked on staff with the California Academy of Sciences, Coro Foundation, Sierra Club, and the Art Institute of Chicago. Andrea attended Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, where she earned a BBA from the Cox School of Business and an MLA from the Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Andrea currently serves on SMU’s National Alumni Board; she is a former board member of the Bravo! Club of San Francisco Opera and has volunteered through the Junior League of San Francisco.

Janet Lipsey manages our office. Janet currently works as a personal organizer, office manager and voiceover actor and has previously worked in a variety of settings as a ballet and theatrical costumer, a Montessori pre-school teacher, and a National Park Ranger. She has 25 years of volunteer experience including working for the Center for Attitudinal Healing, National Park Service, serving as President and member of various school and synagogue committees and working at numerous fundraising auctions. Janet has a BA in Speech Pathology from the University of Northern Colorado with minors in Art and Drama.