About Larry Slesinger

As founder and CEO of Slesinger Management Services, Larry Slesinger helps foundations, associations, and other nonprofit organizations in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area recruit talented people for key leadership and management positions. He also provides COO services on a part-time or interim basis.

Since launching his firm in 1999, Larry has completed more than 140 searches for local, national, and international nonprofits that work in arts and culture, healthcare, human services, international development, and other areas. These organizations seek his expertise to fill a range of senior staff positions, including CEO, COO, CFO, and vice presidents for finance and administration, programs, and communications.

Larry also provides COO-type support to nonprofits that need to strengthen their infrastructure, including financial and administrative management. For example, he serves as the part-time administrator of the INCAE Foundation, a nonprofit that is affiliated with INCAE, the highly-regarded graduate school of business in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. 

Prior to starting his firm, Larry spent 18 years with a variety of organizations, primarily in the nonprofit sector. He was special assistant to the president of the Inter-American Foundation, program officer of the John and Mary R. Markle Foundation, vice president of BoardSource (then called the National Center for Nonprofit Boards, where he was part of the initial staff and served as the #2 staff person for 10 years), and vice president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.  

Larry often speaks before groups of people interested in advancing their career in the nonprofit world. He's a frequent presenter at the U.S. State Department's Career Transition Program, and 40Plus of Greater Washington, as well as other organizations. 

He has written the book Search: Winning Strategies to Get Your Next Job in the Nonprofit World, and several articles that are posted on this website. While at BoardSource, he wrote Self-Assessment for Nonprofit Governing Boards and co-wrote the first edition of A Snapshot of America’s Nonprofit Boards: Results of a National Survey.

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Larry has a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University. He and his family live in Bethesda, Maryland.