The Networker
The gig: Managing principal of Chen Partners, based in Santa Monica. The gregarious Chen created a customized job for herself when she founded Chen Partners, an executive search firm that seeks to match power players with power jobs in small to mid-size companies. Started in 2007, the partnership so far has carried a typical client base of 15 to 20 companies. In addition to Chen, there are two partners: Peggy Chong and Linny Simkin.
Education: Bachelor’s in urban planning from Duke University (1991) and an MBA and master’s in urban planning from UCLA (1998).
Chen’s approach to headhunting: Before starting an executive search, Chen says, her company produces a detailed outline highlighting the client company’s history, listing the responsibilities of the open position and describing the ideal candidate.
Chen organizes the latter description into what she calls three buckets. Bucket A lists the skills and qualifications. Bucket B describes the personality type that would fit the position best. Bucket C details what the company is looking for in regard to the candidate’s values and motivations.
“Companies will often hire for Bucket A but then promote or fire for Buckets B and C,” Chen says. “That is a source of disconnect and failed searches. We want to make sure upfront that we’re all in agreement on what we’re looking for in all three buckets.”
Why you might know her: In 2001, then-Los Angeles Mayor James K. Hahn appointed Chen director of economic recovery. At City Hall, she worked on two projects that made her particularly proud -- an effort to improve literacy and a program to familiarize high school seniors and their parents with the variety of college scholarships and loans available.
She says the state has continued the financial aid initiative, helping an additional 100,000 students as of last spring. She still serves as vice chairwoman of the Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles, which says it has improved the reading ability of 1,700 people.
Her first job: After her sophomore year at Duke, Chen worked for a nonpartisan election monitoring agency during Taiwan’s first elections in 1987. Fluent in Mandarin and English, she became an interpreter and translator, briefing English-speaking reporters and translating news releases.
“I met people who really gave their lives to public service,” Chen says. “My later entry into public service was influenced by some of the people I met and some of the relationships I formed there.”
Career path: After graduating from Duke in 1991, Chen worked as an urban planner, using her networking skills to facilitate projects for HNTB Corp. (‘91-’95), which manages large infrastructure jobs; Maguire Thomas Partners (‘95-’98); and Catellus Development Corp. (1998-2001).
After working for the mayor’s office between 2001 and 2004, Chen joined Heidrick & Struggles International Inc., a global executive search firm. She decided to strike out on her own in 2007.
Chen says the diverse experiences in urban planning, public service and headhunting all tie in to her interest in people and human development.
“Companies are organizations of human beings, and we’re trying to optimize those organizations,” Chen says. “That’s what I do in my professional work. But in my personal work, I’m also interested in the broader issues of developing people and helping them become more productive and making their lives better.”
Personal: Chen, 39, grew up in Potomac, Md., and is the U.S.-born daughter of immigrants from China. Her father, Ruey, grew up in Jiangxi province and her mother, Beatrice, grew up in Zhejiang. Chen’s parents currently live in the city of Kunming, and her brother, Ray, is a U.S. diplomat in Beijing.
Chen completed what she called “the most important search of my life” in 2006 when she met her husband, Dave de Csepel, 42, an entrepreneur in the beverage industry.
They married on April 5 of last year and are expecting a baby on their first anniversary. Chen’s next search, she says, consists of finding an experienced nanny who is fluent in Mandarin to help care for her newborn.