Karen Greenbaum’s proudest moment was being honored by the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) with its IDEA Award in 2024.

It was AESC’s fifth annual recognition for fostering inclusion, diversity, equity and access, and Greenbaum was CEO when the award was created in the wake of George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer the previous year.

Her longstanding commitment to these principles would face a test in the years to come, as a backlash grew and organizations faced pressure to pull back.

But Greenbaum, whose association represents executive recruitment companies of all sizes, from global leaders to boutique firms, stood her ground. She is retiring Dec. 31 after leading AESC for 10 years. The association announced her replacement, James Edmund Datri, on Nov. 13. Vetted Solutions, an AESC member company, assisted in the search.

“The easy thing would have been to say, ‘Well, let’s soften,’ but it’s always been a core value. And instead, I said, ‘Let’s double down, because our members are the people who bring talent to clients. We’re in the business of strengthening leadership worldwide. If we don’t believe in the power of diversity and the power of a culture of inclusion, then who will?’ That’s a very serious responsibility of our profession.

“But I will say I didn’t take the risk alone. I needed to make sure that our members were with us. They are. For those who aren’t with us, we need to get them there,” she said.

Diversity pledge

Greenbaum led the association to update its professional standards of conduct to include a diversity pledge.

“Diversity has been one of our values for many years, since way before I arrived, but we felt we needed to bring some fresh life to it after George Floyd’s murder and we took a hard look and said, ‘What more can we do?’ 

“We got CEOs from most of the leading global firms, we got together very quickly, and we agreed on a few strategies. One was that we wanted our members to pledge their commitment to diversity,” she said.

“And then we said, ‘All right, the pledge is fine, but what else?’ So, we developed regional diversity councils.”

The five councils represent North America; Latin America; the Middle East; Asia Pacific; and Europe and Africa. Greenbaum said early on they discussed how recruiters can reduce bias in the search process from beginning to end.

“We can’t just do whatever the client asks,” she said. “If they say, ‘Don’t bring me any women, don’t bring me any people of color, don’t bring me any of people of this religion,’ we have strong standards that say no, we won’t do that. We believe in inclusion, and so we won’t present an exclusive slate.”

Understanding members

Association leadership was new for Greenbaum when she took the helm of AESC. She had spent her career in professional services firms, having previously been chief operating officer at law firm Nixon Peabody and president and chief operating officer of the U.S. business of consulting firm Mercer. 

“You have to really listen and understand your members and their points of view if you’re running an association,” she said. “I had never led an association before. And you have diverse members that you’re trying to meet the needs of. So, don’t just listen to the biggest members. You have to listen to all members. Really hearing and understanding helps you frame what the association needs to do. Everyone’s going to have a different point of view, and you can’t meet everyone’s needs.”

Getting used to more limited resources also was a challenge. “I had been responsible for a billion-dollar profit and loss statement at Mercer, so I ran a very, very big business,” Greenbaum said. “It’s harder to run a small association, because you never have as many resources as you need.”

AESC reported $4.8 million in revenue in 2023. It is a completely virtual association. Greenbaum is based in Chicago and the rest of the leadership team is split across the U.S., Australia and Belgium. The association also has offices in the United Kingdom and India. AESC has members in 74 countries and during her 10 years leading the group, Greenbaum has visited members in 36 of them.

“Getting used to a smaller budget but still being global, you have to be more adaptable and resilient. But the commonality for me was that I was still focused on professional services,” she said.

On the horizon

On Jan. 6, Greenbaum will be off to Cancun, Mexico, with friends. After that, she is considering a “portfolio career” where she’s involved with a number of things. One of them: her new consulting business, KBG Strategic Solutions.

“I'll do some strategic consulting, including with firms in the recruiting profession,” she said. “And part of that portfolio career will include family and friends and perhaps some fun along the way. I’ve been talking a little bit about maybe being an interim CEO for associations. That could be on the horizon, but it just depends on how that sorts out.”