Wendy Pangburn

Wendy Pangburn has over three decades of professional experience in nonprofit executive recruiting, association management, development/fundraising, and event production. An active leader in the nonprofit/association arena, Wendy earned her Certified Association Executive (CAE) through the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). She specializes in mission driven NGO and association searches for their top executive(s).

Wendy has had essentially three careers serving the nonprofit world. Early in her career she joined that National Republican Senatorial Committee as a major donor specialist. She honed her fundraising/development skills as the Director of Development of the Republican Party of New Hampshire, the Director of Major Donor Events at Odell, Roper and as a fundraising consultant for the George Bush for President Campaign.

After she earned her master’s degree in public administration at Harvard University, Wendy served for over a decade as the Executive Director of the Chief Executives Organization (CEO), an international association of over 2,000 chief executive officers and former leaders of the Young President's Organization whose mission is to improve executive leadership effectiveness through continuing education and idea exchange. During her tenure, she worked in over 40 countries, managed a staff of 35, and an annual budget in excess of $15 million.

Post CEO, Wendy concentrated her career in executive recruiting. A former Partner with Heidrick & Struggles (the second largest executive recruiting firm in the world), Wendy ran the Nonprofit/Association Practice in the Washington, DC office and was the lead consultant for many of the firm’s marquee nonprofit/association search assignments. Prior to moving on from Heidrick, she was the firm’s top producer worldwide in the Nonprofit/Education Department. She has also been a consultant to Korn Ferry International, the largest search firm in the world, and DHR International, the world’s largest privately owned search firm.

In 2016, Wendy was honored to serve as the Executive Director of the U.S. Congressional Commission to study the potential for an American Museum of Women’s History. She presented her report to the President and Congress in November 2017. Since then, the bill to create a Smithsonian standalone museum dedicated to women’s history has passed Congress and Wendy is now diligently working with the Smithsonian to finalize the site of the next Smithsonian museum and raise the necessary private sector funding.

Wendy earned a bachelor’s degrees in economics and art from Bucknell University and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University. She served as the Chair of the Alumni Board of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government for four years and is a currently a member of the international Harvard Alumni Association. She is also a member of the International Women’s Forum (IWF) and the Corcoran Women’s Committee. Residing in Washington, DC, Wendy continues to lead board of trustees of notable nonprofits around the world to witness first-hand the impact of their work in the field while recruiting nonprofit leaders through her affiliation with Vetted Solutions. To date she has been to 121 countries … and is still counting.