Jim Lanier is one of the five founding Search Consultants who launched AGB Search. Initially he joined the AGB organization as a Senior Fellow for Board Education and Consulting to create the AGB Consulting Group. This team provides aid and guidance for AGB member Boards with longer-term governance and specific board and committee issues, and it has grown into a staple of the AGB brand.
Mr. Lanier's personal focus has been on uniting highly competent philanthropic leaders with institutions and foundations where they can fit and flourish. His experience as a successful higher education leader and an Institutional Related Foundation (IRF) President and CEO has enabled him to champion the special needs of foundation leaders and boards.
Representative Executive Searches
Experience and Honors
Since joining AGB, Mr. Lanier has completed over 100 successful consulting and search engagements with institutions and boards across the country. His clients include governing, foundation, and alumni boards at major research universities and systems, as well as community colleges and private institutions. He is recognized as an expert in board governance, especially in the foundation space, and board roles in philanthropy and campaigns, and is closely aligned with the IRF community.
Mr. Lanier led award-winning programs for 23 years as Vice Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, and President and CEO of two IRF's, the East Carolina University Foundation and the ECU Real Estate Foundation. Throughout his career, he has published articles and frequently been invited to speak at regional and national meetings sponsored by AGB, CASE (Council for Support to Education), and NACUBO (National Association of College and University Business Officers). Notably, he chaired a joint AGB/CASE Taskforce that developed the National Illustrative Model Memorandum of Understanding between Institutions and Foundations, which has become a national standard.
Mr. Lanier is a recipient of the CASE/Common Fund Outstanding Foundation Leadership Award. He also served as a senior adjunct instructor at the Duke Nonprofit Center and sat on numerous for-profit and nonprofit boards, including CASE, the Harold H. Bate Foundation, the Community Foundation of NC East, the LeRoy T. Walker Olympic Assessment Center, and the Eastern North Carolina Chamber of Commerce.
Education
