Beyond Fit: Rethinking How Nonprofits Hire for the Future
Zoom
Event Details
Too often, hiring decisions are made around “fit” (comfort, familiarity, or shared style) rather than what the organization truly needs next. This session helps nonprofit leaders rethink their approach to recruitment through the lens of strategy, inclusion, and organizational growth. Participants will explore how implicit bias shapes hiring choices, why “fit” often reproduces sameness, and how to design selection processes that expand perspective and capacity. Whether you’re filling a front-line role or preparing for your next executive search, you’ll leave with practical tools to make your next hire both equitable and strategic.
Learning Objectives
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Examine how “fit” narratives reinforce bias and limit adaptability.
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Identify process and behavior changes that prioritize “add” over similarity.
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Practice applying future-focused, bias-aware hiring questions to real scenarios.
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Leave with concrete tools to make hiring decisions that advance both mission and inclusion.
2025 Education Programs Sponsors
Cost + Registration
- Pay what you can tiers available for MANP members
- $25-$45 Members / $65 Nonmembers
- Scholarships available for MANP members! Prior to registering, email your scholarship request to Learn@NonprofitMaine.org and be sure to include your name and organization.
- Participants will receive login instructions in the registration confirmation e-mail as well as in reminder emails that will be sent one day and one hour prior to the event.
- This webinar will be recorded and available to all registered participants for 30 days after the event. Participants who are unable to attend live will still have access to all materials.
- This MANP-hosted webinar will be hosted in Zoom Meeting and we ask participants mute themselves when joining.
Accessibility
MANP is committed to ensuring all participants are accommodated at our events. If you have accessibility needs, please email us at Learn@NonprofitMaine.org with your request no fewer than 10 business days prior to the event.
About the Presenters
Leandro Zaneti is a consultant, strategist, and facilitator based in Atlanta, GA. Most recently, Leandro was working as an independent consultant leading strategic planning processes with Dobama Theater, In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Company, and BAMAH. Prior to his work as an independent consultant, he was a Senior Consultant at ALJP Consulting. There he had the pleasure of working with organizations such as Theater Bay Area, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf Theater Company, Arts Administrators of Color Network, New York Theater Workshop, and Marin Theatre Company, among others. In addition, Leandro was an instrumental collaborator in developing the infrastructure and methodology for ALJP.
Leandro is also a co-founder of Codify Art, a multidisciplinary artist collective amplifying the stories of queer and trans artists of color. Before becoming a full-time consultant, Leandro was the Associate General Manager at The New Group where he developed and produced the organization’s digital programming during the pandemic. He subsequently produced virtual readings for The Vineyard Theater. He has worked in organizations around the country including The Public Theater, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and Yale Repertory Theatre. Leandro has been a creative producer on over ten theatrical productions in New York City. He is currently serving on the Yale Theater Management Knowledge Base Editorial Board and previously served on the Yale Summer Cabaret Board of Directors.
Al Heartley is a consultant and teacher based in Atlanta, GA. He was previously a Co-Founder and Principal at ALJP Consulting, a search and strategic planning firm working with arts organizations across the country. He co-founded the firm out of a call to bring equity and inclusion to hiring and planning. Clients he worked with at ALJP included San Diego Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, Penumbra Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, Pasadena Playhouse, East West Players, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Theatre Bay Area, American Repertory Theater, Baltimore Center Stage, Building for the Arts, Alabama School of Fine Arts, the New Jersey Arts and Culture Administrators of Color, and New York Theatre Workshop.
Al is a graduate of Yale School of Drama with an MFA in Theater Management. Prior to his life as a consultant, Al was the managing director of the Wirtz Center for the Performing Arts at Northwestern University where he led the organization through the first year of the pandemic and produced programming that included virtual and hybrid offerings. He has worked for various regional theaters across the country including the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, Yale Repertory Theatre, The Guthrie Theater, Cleveland Play House, and Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
He currently teaches at Northwestern where he advises students in the Master of Science in Leadership for the Creative Enterprises. He has taught or lectured or spoken at Florida State, Yale, Michigan, Syracuse, Ohio University, and the University of Buffalo.