Kate Nihill Chance

Kate Nihill Chance is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Technology Practice, Social Impact Practice, and Education Practice, where she advises boards, CEOs, and investors on CEO succession and senior executive search. She leads the firm’s work in Education Technology & Services and has broader expertise spanning education, technology, media, and social impact.

Kate works with public and private companies, private equity-backed and founder-led businesses, and nonprofit and mission-driven organizations. She advises clients on the recruitment of CEOs, Presidents, and senior commercial, product, and operating executives, with particular expertise advising organizations at critical inflection points, including CEO succession, founder transitions, rapid growth, transformation, and business model evolution. Kate is based in New York.

Within Education Technology & Services, Kate works across K-12 and higher education, assessment, learning platforms, information and data services, and technology-enabled businesses. Her broader work extends across digital media and content, advertising and monetization, technology and platform businesses, and purpose-driven organizations. Across her practice, Kate is known for helping clients think expansively about where their next generation of leadership can come from. She frequently works across traditional sector and functional boundaries to identify executives whose experiences and capabilities translate to an organization’s next chapter, including leaders who combine experience operating at scale with the agility and builder mentality required in rapidly evolving environments.

Kate joined Russell Reynolds from Sony Pictures Entertainment in Los Angeles, where she was a Director, People & Organization. In this role, Kate was Chief of Staff to the CHRO and worked closely with senior executives across lines of business on organizational design, talent strategy, and diversity and inclusion. She also shepherded the studio’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. Previously, Kate spent five years with The Tobin Project, a nonprofit social science research organization, where she was Director of Operations. She also worked with the Career & Professional Services Development Center at Harvard Business School.