Success Stories That Speak for Themselves.
Behind every placement is a story of impact. Explore how the right leaders, found through our process, have strengthened organizations and advanced their missions.
Zack Schrantz, St. Leonard’s Ministries
Zach Schrantz
Executive Director, St. Leonard’s Ministries
What was your experience like working with Noetic Search?
It was a strong, well-structured process. The job overview was clear and thoughtful, and the onboarding orientation set me up well from the start.
It’s unusual for an interim CEO to become the permanent hire, but Noetic encouraged the Board to conduct a full, rigorous search and include me as an internal candidate. The three months I served as interim CEO effectively became an extended interview, which was incredibly helpful.
Throughout the process, Noetic really listened—to both me and the Board—and helped ensure alignment. Overall, it was a thoughtful, well-run process that led to a strong outcome for everyone involved.
What impact are you most proud of on behalf of your organization?
One of the impacts I’m most proud of is revaluing the power of alumni at St. Leonard’s. We’ve embraced the idea of “St. Leonard’s for Life,” making it clear that our graduates always belong here. Alumni now serve on our Board and leadership team, volunteer with us, and are consistently uplifted and respected. Every graduation is a major celebration, often featuring alumni speakers, reinforcing that sense of belonging.
I’m also proud of the work we’ve done to strengthen our leadership team. We had people in positions of authority who didn’t yet see themselves as leaders, and we’ve worked intentionally to build that leadership identity—rooted in valuing and respecting people.
Programmatically, we’ve made meaningful progress. We’ve stabilized our education and workforce programs, reduced instructor turnover, doubled the number of workforce graduates, and become a preferred provider for the CTA Second Chance Program. We’re also seeing strong referral momentum, as people who have good experiences with us send friends and family our way.
On the facilities side, we’ve focused on improving our existing buildings and recently received a $4.6 million city grant. The mayor even chose St. Leonard’s as the site for the press conference announcing it, which made our community feel truly valued. We also acquired a neighboring two-flat building in a very meaningful way—the family of a longtime neighbor who had lived there for 56 years reached out because they felt he would have wanted St. Leonard’s to have it. In April 2026, there was a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the 2124 Building. This opening is part of a larger $15 million expansion project aimed at converting existing dorm-style housing into private, single-bedroom units, increasing ADA accessibility, and upgrading infrastructure. The 2124 Building was acquired and renovated to support the logistics of the wider campus improvements.
Perhaps most importantly, we’re seeing real outcomes. We’re retracking recidivism rates and seeing strong progress. While the statewide recidivism rate for women in Illinois is about 20%, our women’s cohort has had a 0% rate over the past three years. For men, the state average is around 38%, and ours is now under 10% for the same period.
Personally, I love the variety of this role—drawing on finance, programming, and strategy—while still having direct interaction with residents. That connection is what fills me up. With additional housing capacity, we can support longer stays, which is critical since two to three months post-release is simply not enough time for stability.
How do you stay connected to the communities you serve?
My most immediate connection is to the St. Leonard’s community itself. I love spending time with our residents and tenants, attending graduations, and being present. While housing and jobs matter deeply, what truly makes the difference is a sense of community and belonging.
Externally, I’ve worked to re-engage St. Leonard’s with the broader re-entry and justice reform community across Chicago and Illinois. We had been somewhat disconnected, but there was still tremendous goodwill. St. Leonard’s remains a core brand in re-entry work in Illinois, and people genuinely welcomed us back to the table.
Recently, I participated in the City of Chicago’s co-governance model, which brings together government officials and re-entry organizations, and St. Leonard’s was selected to be part of that effort. That’s been incredibly affirming.
Internally, we’ve also focused on healing and strengthening our Board and staff relationships. Our Board has grown from about 15 to 21 members and is now more diverse across race, gender, and lived experience, including people with personal or family experience of incarceration. Most importantly, Board members are engaged and feel heard.
Fun Fact
This work has become something of a family affair. My daughter works at the Illinois Prison Project, helping people get out of prison by supporting clemency efforts alongside attorneys. She’s also building strong connections with St. Leonard’s, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.
St. Leonard’s Ministries is a leading Chicago-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting individuals transitioning from incarceration to independent, stable lives. Through comprehensive housing, workforce development, and educational programming, the organization serves hundreds of men and women annually and is widely recognized for its holistic, community-centered approach to reentry.
Ashley Magnus
Executive Director, The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts
What was your experience like working with Noetic Search?
I have worked with executive recruitment firms in the past, and my experience with Noetic was just the right combination of warmth and professional expertise. I got a complete picture of the organization I’d be joining and felt that I had advocates in the room working to ensure it would be a good fit all around.
I felt that I could speak candidly with Noetic and that they were able to gather information for me quickly and with ease. The process felt so good. The team at Noetic were great communicators throughout the entire process. It was a high-touch experience that made me feel supported as a candidate. I know that I was a late applicant to the process, and I was grateful that Noetic was still willing to review my materials and consider my candidacy.
What impact are you most proud of on behalf of your organization?
We are in the quiet phase of our capital campaign, and have raised $700k. The public phase, with a goal of $1.6M, will launch once we reach the $1M mark. We have a board meeting today and will vote to move forward with some upgrades in the theater. The area that we are having the most success in fundraising is individual contributors and major gifts. We are launching the campaign while building a culture of philanthropy that previously didn’t exist.
In terms of staff, we still have the same full-time team that I inherited – I’ve been able to retain them, and I think that speaks to the healthy culture of the organization and the strong board that supports us.
We’ve grown the board from 12 to 18 since I joined, which feels great.
How do you stay connected to the communities you serve?
In terms of community, it’s been a joy to build out our community programming. We added youth education programs – we are in our 3rd year of partnering with Jazz Reach, who comes and does a residency with us each year, which is fueled by grants. This is a K-12 program that benefits our community, and we also bus in 500 kids from surrounding rural areas. We also partner with the School of American Music to reach homeschool kids. This happens each November. Jazz was such an integral part of the civil rights movement and is a rich part of the fabric of America, and is important to share with our community youth. Out of this, the River Valley Jazz Orchestra formed at our local school. Last year, there were 18 students who participated!
We also formed TADA, the Acorn Dramatic Arts Camp. This summer is the 3rd year for this 4-week intensive half-day theater camp for kids around acting and singing, and it culminates in a fully produced musical that the kids perform at the end of the summer. This year, we are doing The Jungle Book. We secured funding for this, so we can fully subsidize it for the kids who participate. We partner with Neighbor by Neighbor to identify their client families to join us for TADA, which feels so good.
Do you have a motto or mantra you live by?
What I always come back to is “connecting the community through great live music.” It’s all about connections and coming up with ways for everyone to benefit.
The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts is a nonprofit performing arts venue in Three Oaks, Michigan, known for its intimate, eclectic mix of live entertainment, community events, and educational programs.
Tara May
Chief Executive Officer, Aspiritech
What was your experience like working with Noetic Search?
Noetic really made it a two-way experience. They made sure that it was not only a fit for the client but also a good fit for me as the candidate and I appreciated that.
What impact are you most proud of on behalf of your organization?
I am really proud of the expansion into other service lines, i.e. cybersecurity, and growing our job along with training. We are now providing job training to over 50 autistic adults in cybersecurity to help them gain employment. These are individuals who do not work at Aspiritech, so this allows us to help more people and expand our reach. We started with just 8 individuals, grew to 50, and plan to be training 75 or more by next year. We also received a $50,000 grant to expand into Colorado.
We’ve launched Neurodiversity training and counseling for other companies and organizations, as well as for managers and HR professionals, to teach them how to be inclusive. This is important because we can not be the only ones doing this, so we get to share our model to help others!
How do you stay connected to the communities you serve?
Aspiritech built the website for an organization called Spectrum Sailing. Some of our employees volunteer with them, and we love supporting them. They do sailing camps in Chicago, Michigan, North Carolina, and Florida. This is just one example of how I maintain close alliances with partner organizations. I view this as part of the ecosystem.
Do you have a motto or mantra you live by?
At work: Kindness always has a return on investment - The ROI of kindness is my work mantra.
At home: My parents always said “Plan B rocks,” meaning life may not go exactly how you imagined it would, and it can still be amazing!
Aspiritech is a not-for-profit quality assurance and technology services company that empowers individuals on the autism spectrum through meaningful employment while delivering end-to-end QA, accessibility, and data services.
Nina Idemudia
Chief Executive Officer, Center for Neighborhood Technology
What was your experience working with Noetic Search like?
Noetic is the first search firm that I ever worked with, and I appreciated the conversations we had about my transferable skills. Noetic understood what the organization wants and needs, which is different from posting a job opening. They answered my questions, which helped me gather the information I needed. They also helped facilitate the salary negotiation, and since this was my first time in this type of role and industry, it was very helpful. Having someone who could walk me through the process was very valuable.
What impact are you most proud of on behalf of your organization?
The investment we have made internally. We didn’t have pay scales, we didn’t track gender, race, or salary. Now we can track these things. We also created a neurodivergent policy. We are doing a strategic plan, so new ideas are bubbling up. We are preparing ourselves internally, putting more into our employees so that they can live their best lives.
How do you stay connected to the communities you serve?
I am the community I serve, it is very natural. I knew some of the staff and board members, as well as community members, from my work with the city. Continuing to cultivate the relationships I already have is easy for me. I am now the Executive Director of an organization that talks to the communities that I live in. I show up at events. I have expanded my relationships in Logan Square, Pilsen, and areas even further south.
I have broadened my ability to expand my network. I am a planner and have been meeting with organizations focused on environmental justice and climate resilience. I have a whole network of people that I am learning from. I am going to conferences. For instance, I attended the Aspen Institute Ideas conference, which was enjoyable as I learned about emerging issues, expanded my knowledge base, and gained insight into my own space.
I have also expanded the Board and recruited a new Board member from a Public Relations firm as we needed better branding and messaging. We are building the Board's muscle and setting different expectations.
Do you have a motto or mantra you live by?
Live with purpose and on purpose. I want to save the little Ninas of the world. I want to take care of myself. My work can’t consume me. I am learning how to do this better because I need to be restored.
The Center for Neighborhood Technology (CNT) is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization dedicated to creating equitable, sustainable, and resilient urban communities through research, policy advocacy, and community collaboration.