Oxford HR are delighted that Evelyne Guindon and Alanna Rondi joined the team at the end of last year, to bring the Oxford HR offering to clients in the US and Canada. We asked them each a series of questions to get to know them better. Watch this space for our interview with our Associate Director of Latin America, Jennifer Chumacero:
What was your role before joining Oxford HR?
Evelyne Guindon: I’ve worked in the International Development and Humanitarian sector primarily since 1989 in operational, partnership and fundraising roles. I’ve worked with large and established organizations such as CARE and UNICEF as well as initiatives in their early stages such as Women Deliver and Nutrition International. I continue advising organizations and their leaders as they bring new programs and partnerships to life, and I also lecture at the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs.
Alanna Rondi: I’ve been working in the International Development sector for around 15+ years. I’ve consciously chosen roles where I will learn new skills, grow my understanding of a new thematic area and always find an environment that has passionate people from all over the world who are fun and engaging to work with. For the last three years I’ve enjoyed working in partnership development with the Netherlands based media INGO, RNW Media. Its been a prescient time working in digital media and youth engagement across the globe.
What do you feel you can bring to your clients?
Evelyne Guindon: My experience as a leader and team member helps me understand our clients’ leadership challenges and needs as well as the support required throughout the recruitment and transition process. I am passionate about the sector and thrilled to be supporting practitioners through its ongoing evolution. I currently volunteer as a board chair, so I also bring expertise in effective governance which has, at times, been overlooked by our sector. As a mother of three grown children, I bring perspective on balancing a mission driven career and a personal life. Alanna and I together bring a broad spectrum of experience and a global network as well as a track record of identifying and elevating new talent. We truly enjoy connecting and supporting our peers.
Alanna Rondi: A thoughtful, well informed and knowledgeable approach to the search sector. With a background in partnership building, I understand how to build effective and meaningful relationships with clients that deliver results from a place of mutual respect and understanding. Evelyne and I are also quite new to the work of executive search so we are very keen, green and giving it 150%. Clients can tap into our combined expertise and E.Q. We are well positioned to be sourcing great talent and assessing for good fit.
Why did you decide to join Oxford HR?
Evelyne Guindon: I took some time off in 2021 to reflect and carefully consider the next stage of my career. It was a year of seismic and positive change in the global social profit world. Harnessing great talent, lifting new leaders, and building strong teams has always brought me the greatest joy in my work. I also recognized how challenging it is to recruit for the sector from firms that do not fully understand our unique needs and the highly distinct skillset of its leaders. Joining Oxford HR has been the perfect next step and I’m thrilled to be working with an engaging and dedicated team of professionals, with extensive expertise and global reach in executive search as well as a long track record in successful searches.
Alanna Rondi: Oxford HR is a truly global team so it feeds my need for working with people who bring a worldly perspective. The firm also has a great track record in the ID and for-purpose sector and that aligns very well with my values and interests. And the folks themselves, from everyone we’ve met and worked with, have been really good, considerate and helpful people. There’s a community here, even if we’re spread out across the globe.
In your opinion, what makes a great job application?
Evelyne Guindon: Having confidence in yourself. Study the organization, the role and reflect carefully on all of your skills, experience and what you are good at. Reflect on what you enjoy, what you’re eager to learn and where you might fit in the team. Know you are in control of your career and ask questions when the time is right in the hiring process. Do not be passive. Let them know why you’re right for this role from a position of strength and careful self-reflection. Smile while you’re writing your cover letter!
Alanna Rondi: Track record, commitment to the cause, alignment on values.
What issues keep you awake at night?
Evelyne Guindon: That is a very challenging question to ask in 2022. I tend to go down slippery slopes in the night. Much of my family were once refugees. I think a lot about war and migration, poverty and inequality. The latter two have been exposed and exacerbated by the global covid pandemic. Toxic rhetoric in politics, on social media and hatred on the grounds of race, gender, religion and nationality persists, on every continent. Are the right leaders being elevated to help us all work through the challenges we are facing in so many aspects of our lives? To meet the challenges we face today, and tomorrow, we need strong leadership across all sectors. We also need strong civil society organizations and the space for healthy discourse more than ever. I remain an optimist and solutions focused, even in my dreams.
Alanna Rondi: I sleep very well actually! It’s my coping mechanism when stress creeps in… What riles me up? Injustice, apathy, selfishness, and not speaking up. Canadians have a tendency not to call each other out for fear of offending. I think the issues we face today – sexism, racism, colonialism, etc. – are perpetuated because people think they’re not part of the problem. We need to hold ourselves to a higher level of accountability, from the small acts to the bigger system changing acts.
What book have you read most recently?
Evelyne Guindon: The Strangers, by Katherina Vermette a Red River Metis author, from Treaty 1 Territory, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is an intergenerational saga that exposes the harsh truths about Canada’s colonial history and the lasting effect it has on Indigenous people.
Alanna Rondi: The last book I read was ‘Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty’ by Patrick Radden Keefe. It is a tome at 560 pages and extremely well researched. But Keefe’s storytelling is extremely compelling and it’s hard to put down. We know how the story ends but getting the multi-generational understanding of this family and how they contributed to the opioid epidemic we currently have, is highly recommended.
