Introduction
Jessica Magagna is the daughter of Founding Director John Magagna who started Search Associates in 1990 after a long career as a teacher and administrator both overseas and in the US. Jessica began working for Search Associates in 2002 as a Senior Associate with a focus on teacher recruitment. After working side by side with her father for seven years, in 2009, she moved into an executive role overseeing the day to day operations of Search Associates. In 2018, her father retired ending a 60 year career as an educator and administrator and Jessica was appointed as CEO, in part, to oversee and preserve the integrity and mission of the family business. In this role she is responsible for the creation, planning, implementation and strategic direction of the organization in collaboration with the Search Associates Executive Team members.
Background
Jessica was born in Tangier while her father was Head of School at the American School of Tangier. After spending five years in Morocco her family headed back to the US where her father took a job as the Headmaster of a private school and where her Mother taught Pre-k. After spending seven years in the United States, her family went back overseas when her father accepted a position as HOS at the American Community school in Tehran, Iran where she attended school for several years.
She has had a wealth international experience, not only as a student in the international school community, but has visited extensively in Indonesia, while her father was Head of School at Jakarta International School, and has traveled to other countries in Asia, Europe and South America visiting as many international schools along the way. Her passion for education, recruiting and travel led her to begin her career with Search Associates in 2002.
After attending Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, where she earned her B.A. in Communication Studies and Interpersonal Communication, Jessica worked as an Education Outreach Coordinator for a local organization teaching specific life skills to children in grades K-5 and coordinating their community outreach program. She then changed careers and took a position as an Executive in the Retail Management industry concentrating on recruitment and training for upper level Management positions. After spending over a decade in this profession, she eventually decided to leave and join her father in managing Search Associates as a Senior Associate and later, as CEO of the organization.
Family
Jessica comes from a family whose life was, and continues to be, devoted to education. Her mother, Diane Magagna, was an Early Childhood Education teacher who dedicated her life to children and learning, and spent over seven years teaching abroad in Egypt, Mali, Beirut and Angola. Her father has been a teacher and then Head of School in several international and U.S schools devoting his time to finding the best teachers to enhance student learning around the globe.
In her spare time she is a Mother of two children, Ethan (16 years old) and Rachel (13 years old) and works from her home office in Northeast Pennsylvania.
Melinda Williams, Executive Manager
Melinda Williams began her employment with Search Associates in 2005 as an Administrative Assistant to John Magagna, and has been involved in all aspects of Search Associates management ever since, especially in preparing for the Cambridge Fair, candidate management, Leadership Searches, advertising, accounting and website development. Several years ago John asked Melinda to take on an additional assignment as a Candidate Recruitment Coordinator, and consequently she has become much more involved with teacher placements, screening, advising, and assisting our candidates.
Melinda attended Pennsylvania State University and Interamericana University in Puerto Rico. She received a BA in Labor and Industrial relations at Penn State and has worked in management and human resources for both Penn State University and the Aramark Corporation. Melinda also spent five years in customer service for SYSCO foods. In all she has spent 12 plus years in service oriented businesses and in customer relations prior to joining Search Associates. She looks forward to working much more closely with candidates and in supporting them in their efforts to seek a position which matches their interests and skills. If you have any questions regarding any aspect of Search Associates feel free to contact Melinda.
Email: melinda@searchassociates.com
Office: 7177126930
President
I was appointed as Vice President of Search Associates in 2009, and President in 2013 after working for the company for eleven years. I work with our Executive Management Committee (EMC) which is comprised of our COO, Rajiv Bhat and our Executive Vice President, David Cope.The EMC works extremely hard in continuing to find ways to improve our company's services to better meet the needs of all candidates and schools we serve.
In my role as President I am also responsible for the Search Associates web site to include development strategies, maintenance and future goals. Much of what you see on our web site comes from hundreds of suggestions from both candidates and schools who use our services.Therefore, if you have any suggestions for improvement or wish to share what you like about our web site, please feel free to contact me any time.
