Connecting the right leader to the right moment.
Approach
We help purpose-driven organizations meet the leadership demands of growth, scale, and transformation.
Leadership expectations have multiplied and the bar keeps moving. Leaders who meet the moment are emerging from broader, less conventional paths than ever before.
We’ve spent decades building the judgment to recognize when leadership capability will translate across industries, business models, and moments of change, so our clients can act on a wider field with confidence.
Each search delivers strategic market intelligence, not simply a hire.
Two senior partners lead every search. Fully invested from the first conversation through onboarding, we help clients navigate ambiguity, calibrate tradeoffs, and interpret market feedback so they make better leadership decisions.
The right leader is never out of reach. Our search approach is expansive by design because great talent is widely-distributed and rarely surfaces through conventional networks. The challenge isn’t interest; it’s access and an informed approach.
Urgency is a given. We move quickly without sacrificing rigor, transparency, or candidate experience. With two partners fully invested and only a handful of searches at a time, there is no tradeoff between speed and fidelity.
Team
Strategists, catalysts, and doers. Trusted search partners and advisors for complex leadership decisions.
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Karen advises founders, impact leaders, and investors seeking C-suite and operating leaders across functions. With 20+ years spanning executive search and revenue leadership, she brings an operator's perspective to recruiting leaders with the vision and operational savvy to execute.
Before co-founding Ignite Agents, Karen led the San Francisco office of a boutique executive search firm and led an executive search and strategy practice serving venture-backed startups and organizations across the public and social sectors. Earlier in her career, Karen led go-to-market and growth for early-stage startups and F500 enterprises in tech and consumer markets, as both an operator and consultant. Shaped by a global upbringing, she has lived and worked on four continents and began her career in global finance with ABN AMRO in Taipei, Taiwan.
Karen earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Georgia and completed Stanford University's Executive Program in Social Entrepreneurship. She lives in San Francisco and actively supports health, wellness, and education organizations in her Bay Area community, serving on the advisory board of The San Francisco Arts Education Project (SFArtsED).
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Debbie leads global executive searches in both the private and public sectors, from Fortune 100 companies to universities and government agencies. She recruits senior executives across all functions (CEO, CFO, CHRO, General Counsel, Chief Legal Officer and Board Directors) in a wide variety of industries.
Before co-founding Ignite Agents, Debbie was a Partner at a boutique executive search firm, and spent over six years as a Managing Director in Major, Lindsey & Africa's in-house practice group. Prior to executive search, she was in-house counsel for Marriott International and served as General Counsel of an international restaurant chain. She began her career as an Associate at Troutman Sanders and Reed Smith.
Debbie is actively involved in the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) and the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia. She received a BA degree from McGill University and a JD from Washington & Lee School of Law, where she was on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Civil Rights and Social Justice. She serves on the Boards of the Washington Project for the Arts (Co-chair of Governance Committee) and Norwood School (Vice-Chair & Chair of Committee on Trustees).
Focus
We recruit board, executive, and operational leaders equipped to navigate complexity, earn trust, and deliver lasting impact.
Our clients include growth-stage companies, established market leaders, and institutions across the public and social sectors. We work in technology-driven, research-intensive, and highly regulated environments.
Industries & Sectors
Consumer Markets | Climate | Healthcare & Life Sciences | Financial Services | Technology & AI | Government & Public Sector | Philanthropy & Non-profit
Function Practices
Board | CEO & C-Suite | GTM & Commercial | Legal & Compliance | Finance | AI / ML | Software & Infrastructure | People & Talent