Supporting Social Justice Leaders
through Executive Search

A Different Kind of
Search Partner

As the Founder and Principal of Do Good Connections, Melissa Madzel brings a high-touch, people-centered approach to supporting social justice organizations through executive searches for executive directors and CEOs, board members, and other key leaders.

Do Good Connections was born from years of witnessing brilliant BIPOC and LGBTQ+ leaders navigate spaces not designed for their success. 

It emerged as the answer to a question too many are afraid to ask: What if we stopped trying to fit exceptional leaders from Black, Brown, and Queer identities into existing spaces and instead transformed those spaces to embrace their excellence?

Our Services

Building nonprofit and philanthropic boards where lived experience and professional expertise can shape real transformation

Board Recruitment

Executive Search

Partnering with executive leadership of social justice organizations to connect visionary leaders through an equitable process

Thought Partnership

Collaborating and partnering across the sector to create brave spaces for organizations to examine power, purpose, and possibility

Opportunities

Do Good Connections intentionally works with a small number of clients at a given time. Below are a few featured leadership opportunities.

Board Member
URGE: Unite for Reproductive and Gender Equity

URGE builds power and sustains a young people’s movement for reproductive justice by centering the leadership of young people of color who are women, queer, trans, nonbinary, and people of low-income. Learn more and apply to join the Board of Directors here.

Do Good Connections Partners and Clients 

Ready for leadership that drives
genuine change?

Let's connect to explore together.

  • "As Co-Chairs of both our board and our search committee, we deeply appreciated the way Melissa designed an inclusive hiring process that drew out valuable insights from all of us and transformed them into meaningful inputs throughout the process. She listened deeply to understand our intentions and her experience allowed her to proactively create time and space to ensure we moved at the right pace."

    Chi-Ante Jones and Kaberi Banerjee Murthy
    Board of Directors Co-Chairs, Neighborhood Funders Group

  • “I’ve worked with Melissa on at least five executive director and board member searches. Each time I am ever more grateful for her smarts, thoroughness, grace, and, of course, excellent results.”

    Richard Burns
    Board Member and Interim Executive Director

  • "We worked with her both on board recruitment and our recent COO search which yielded a candidate I am absolutely thrilled to work with. I cannot recommend Melissa enough, for a bespoke professional matchmaking rooted in deep care and attention across all the stakeholders."

    Yamani Yansá Hernandez
    CEO, Groundswell Fund

  • "As an Interim President leading our organization through an extended transition process, I appreciated Melissa’s experience in navigating executive leadership searches while centering equity and building trust. She was a true partner and that gave me confidence in the process but also in the eventual hire."

    Amy T. Morris
    Interim President, Neighborhood Funders Group

  • "I've had the pleasure of working with Melissa Madzel on multiple executive searches and I cannot recommend her enough. She is whip smart, well connected to strong candidates, incredibly knowledgeable of the philanthropic and nonprofit landscape, immeasurably generous with her time, and always equity-focused. (And as an added plus, she is fun to work with!)"

    Lyle Matthew Kan
    Former Interim Executive Director, CHANGE Philanthropy

  • “Melissa's thorough approach to each hiring process shows genuine care for candidates. She is transparent, supportive, generous and relational, which feels like putting the candidate's humanity in the center of the search process. Melissa has a passion for helping people find roles that are a good fit and her intuition is spot on!”

    Amber Banks
    Vice President of Programs, Decolonizing Wealth Project

  • "An added bonus is that my junior hiring processes are stronger because of the work I’ve done with Melissa. She is not just invested in me coming back to her, she is invested in building better hiring process and candidate experience whether I work with her or not. Her market leadership is what we need as the world of work continues to stretch and become more dynamic."

    Kassandra Frederique
    Executive Director, Drug Policy Alliance

Do Good Connections Clients

Our clients and partners at Do Good Connections represent a diverse community of changemakers who share our commitment to transformative leadership and systemic change

Transformative Partnerships

Over the years, Melissa Madzel has had the privilege to partner with a wide range of organizations on the front lines of advancing social justice.

Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice

Brooklyn Academy of Music

Brooklyn Community Services

Cause Effective

CHANGE Philanthropy

Community Change 

Community Resource Exchange

Community Voices Heard

Demos

Drug Policy Alliance

Foundation for a Just Society

Hetrick-Martin Institute

Innocence Project

Meyer Foundation

MoveOn

New York City AIDS Memorial

Office of the Appellate Defender

Proteus Fund

Public Welfare Foundation

Southern Poverty Law Center

The American LGBTQ+ Museum

The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Center of New York (The Center)

Union for Reform Judaism

U.S. Human Rights Network


Do Good Connections builds strategic alliances in executive search to transform nonprofit leadership and create meaningful change.

Affiliations