EDUCATION · ORG DEVELOPMENT
French American School of Puget Sound
The hire that changed everything — and the search that made it possible.
2
SEARCHES COMPLETED
$390K
CURRENT ANNUAL FUND
8+
YEARS STILL IN ROLE
3rd
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY
01
The opportunity
A bilingual school ready for its next chapter — and ready to build the team to lead it.
The French American School of Puget Sound is a private, bilingual independent school serving students from preschool through grade 8 on Mercer Island and in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood. Founded on the belief that bilingual education produces more thoughtful, globally aware citizens, FASPS had already proven its model — completing two successful capital campaigns, growing to over 500 students, and earning a reputation as the Pacific Northwest's leader in harmonized bilingual education.
By 2017, FASPS was at an inflection point. The school had the mission, the community, and the ambition for significant growth — including the long-term vision of a permanent Seattle campus. What it needed was a dedicated advancement leader who could professionalize the school's philanthropic program and carry it into its most ambitious chapter yet. FASPS had never made this kind of hire before and understood that getting it right was critical. The wrong hire at this moment would cost the school years of momentum.
COGEO was engaged to find the right person.
02
What COGEO did
Two searches. Two pivotal hires. The advancement infrastructure that made everything else possible
COGEO conducted two executive searches for FASPS — each at a critical moment in the school's development. Both were completed with the same discipline, cultural sensitivity, and strategic clarity that FASPS needed to make the right hire at the right time.
Placed FASPS's first Director of Advancement — April 2017
COGEO led FASPS through a comprehensive search process for its first-ever Director of Advancement — the hire that would define the school's philanthropic trajectory for years to come. COGEO built the candidate profile, managed the search process, screened and evaluated candidates, and guided FASPS leadership through the selection decision with the discipline and clarity that a hire of this significance demands. The Director placed by COGEO has now been in the role for more than eight years — building the annual fund, stewarding the donor community, and now leading FASPS's third capital campaign for the Seattle Permanent Home Project.
Placed a Campaign Manager — August 2019
Two years after the first placement, COGEO was engaged again to find a Campaign Manager to support the growing development program. As FASPS's philanthropic ambitions expanded, so did the need for dedicated campaign execution capacity. COGEO applied the same rigorous process to identify a candidate whose skills and cultural fit positioned the school to execute on its expanding fundraising goals.
Coached FASPS leadership through the search process
Beyond the mechanics of candidate identification and screening, COGEO guided Head of School Eric Thuau and FASPS's leadership team through the decision-making process itself — helping the school articulate what it needed, evaluate candidates against those criteria, and make a selection with confidence. The goal was never just to fill a position. It was to give FASPS the discipline and framework to make the best possible hire for the school's unique culture and long-term needs.
03
The outcome
Eight years later the Director of Advancement COGEO placed is still leading — and preparing FASPS for its most ambitious campaign yet.
2
SEARCHES COMPLETED
8+
YEARS STILL IN ROLE
$390K
CURRENT ANNUAL FUND
3rd
CAPITAL CAMPAIGN UNDERWAY
The measure of a successful executive search isn't just whether the hire was made — it's whether the right person was placed in the right role at the right moment. By that measure, COGEO's work with FASPS has been definitively successful. The Director of Advancement placed in April 2017 has now spent more than eight years building FASPS's philanthropic program — growing the annual fund to a $390,000 goal, deepening the school's donor community, and building the institutional fundraising capacity that FASPS needed to grow.
That growth is now reaching its most significant expression. FASPS is preparing for its third capital campaign — the Seattle Permanent Home Project — a campaign to secure a permanent campus in the Capitol Hill neighborhood where the school already operates. The advancement infrastructure built under the Director COGEO placed is what makes that campaign possible. A school that eight years ago had no dedicated advancement leadership is now positioned to execute one of the most ambitious campaigns in its history.
The second hire, the Campaign Manager placed in 2019, added the execution capacity that a growing development program requires. Together the two hires COGEO made for FASPS created an advancement team capable of sustaining the school's philanthropic growth independently for years to come.
“COGEO's Executive Search services gave us the confidence to navigate a pivotal moment in FASPS's growth. Their organization, efficiency, and expertise allowed us the discipline to select the best candidate for FASPS's unique culture and needs, both for now and well into our future endeavors.”
Eric Thuau
Head of School, French American School of Puget Sound
MORE WORK
EDUCATION · ORG DEVELOPMENT
YSC ACADEMY
ADVOCACY · ORG DEVELOPMENT
EMPOWER ME ACADEMY
CONSERVATION · ANNUAL CAMPAIGN
COMPATIBLE LANDS FOUNDATION
