In 2024, Next Stage partnered with the newly established Catawba Nation Foundation to conduct a comprehensive executive search for its inaugural executive director. The search was embedded in a larger scope of work that included governance design, establishment of a grantmaking strategy, and brand development.

The Foundation, established as part of the Tribal-State Compact with North Carolina, needed a visionary leader who could build the organization from the ground up while honoring the values of the Catawba Nation and fulfilling the Foundation’s dual mission.

Navigating Uncharted Waters

The Catawba Nation Foundation faced several unique challenges:

• As a newly established organization with a board appointed in late 2023, the Foundation had no existing operational infrastructure.
• The Foundation required a leader who could authentically understand and respect Native American cultural values while building bridges with external communities.
• The executive search needed to align with the Foundation’s newly established organizational values: ethical stewardship, mutual respect, responsiveness, leadership, collaboration, and community.
• The position demanded a candidate with a “builder mindset” who could create systems from scratch rather than simply maintain existing operations.

Developing a Values-Aligned Search

Because the Foundation had previously partnered with Next Stage to define its core organizational values and establish board governance processes, the Next Stage team was able to use insights from these engagements to help inform a comprehensive and multifaceted approach to the executive search.

Interviews with key stakeholders — Cleveland County residents, Catawba Nation members, tribal leaders, and local nonprofits — helped inform the recruitment and interview process, and the search itself was thoughtfully designed to align with the Foundation’s newly established core values.

From there, Next Stage worked alongside the Foundation to create a detailed candidate profile and conducted a thorough salary study to establish competitive compensation. Next Stage also developed a multichannel outreach strategy, which included paid and non-paid outlets at national, state, and regional levels. The company also employed a specialized contractor, local search expert Tanya Varanelli, to expand search reach and partnered with Catawba Nation’s Assistant Chief and Communications Director to share the position within Native American communities.

The rigorous selection process included 17 initial screening calls to assess candidate fit. This empowered the Foundation’s leadership and Next Stage to narrow the field to four strong candidates. Next Stage then provided candidates with structured interview materials and facilitated a multiround interview process with the finalists.

Securing Transformative Leadership

In October 2024, after a thorough search process, the Catawba Nation Foundation successfully hired Kristine Locklear Urrutia, a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina with more than two decades of experience in capacity building, equity, and foundation development.

Next Stage’s executive search partnership with the Foundation extended beyond the hiring process to ensure a successful transition. Next Stage created a comprehensive 90-day onboarding plan for the new executive director, which included weekly orientation meetings. The company presented the Foundation with a suggested structured schedule that covered critical early-stage priorities for the role, including operational infrastructure development, board member engagement, site visits, grantmaking strategy implementation, and community involvement initiatives.

Fulfilling Operational Potential

The partnership between Next Stage and the Catawba Nation Foundation demonstrates the value of a thorough, values-aligned approach to executive search — particularly for organizations in formative stages. By focusing not only on professional qualifications but also on cultural understanding and leadership qualities, Next Stage helped the Foundation secure a leader capable of building its operations while honoring its unique dual mission of supporting both the Catawba Nation and the broader communities where it operates.