ABOUT US
Our vision at RSC is to ensure that today’s workforce represents the most diverse and qualified candidate pool possible. Our goal is to impact higher education institutions and corporations, so there is fair representation.
OUR MISSION
Renaissance Search & Consulting (RSC), strives to connect higher education institutions and corporations with the most qualified and diverse candidates in the world.
WHY RSC IS DIFFERENT
We know the higher education and corporate landscape inside and out. We’ve built the connections you need to open doors to the right conversations. Our network of hand-selected candidates represents a quality of excellence you won’t find anywhere else. Most importantly, our affiliation with minority networking groups has allowed us to cultivate the most qualified minority candidates. We’re here to bring change, one hire at a time.
OUR TEAM
At RSC we have contributors who have extensive experience. We use this experience to leverage relationships that have been built over the years. This helps us gain insight on the current landscape and areas we need to push to make sure our client institutions continue to develop diverse and inclusive environments.
HERB COURTNEY II
FOUNDER
Herb has been involved with intercollegiate athletics for over 15 years, seven of those years as a division 1 assistant coach. During this time, Herb has developed significant relationships with athletic directors and coaches. Herb keeps his ear to the ground in the minority coaching community and makes it a priority to continue to develop relationships within the coaching community.
Before Herb’s time in coaching, he was a very successful recruiter and Sales Manager for an IT recruiting firm, building relationships and a sales territory within the healthcare space in Philadelphia. Having the coaching background, along with the corporate recruiting experience, makes him uniquely qualified to serve his clients in athletics.
Herb is very passionate about diversity and ethics in sports. At RSC we want to make sure qualified individuals are getting opportunities to lead in college athletics. With Herb’s experience in college athletics and recruiting, he has a unique feel to who would be ideal candidates that would fit each client’s culture and needs. He will bring a high level of integrity, confidentiality, and expertise while working with hiring institutions to help them through the search process.
Herb can be reached at herb@theRSCfirm.com or via LinkedIn.
KELLY BROOKS
SR. CONSULTANT
Kelly resides in Atlanta, GA and has over 25 years of experience in higher education and athletics. Kelly is passionate about facilitating opportunities for professionals to grow careers and for institutions and organizations to build ideal teams. During his career, Kelly has led initiatives to develop and support relationships as well as managed a portfolio of clients regarding the planning of professional development activities, training courses, seminars and workshops for staff.
Kelly is a part of the Forward Progress Athletics Consulting team, which is located in Castle Rock, CO. He served eight years as a member of the NCAA National Headquarters staff in Indianapolis, IN. He held the role of Associate Commissioner for the Southwestern Athletic Conference office, an NCAA Division I Historically Black College & University (HBCU) conference located in Birmingham, AL. Kelly previously worked as the Director of Student-Athlete Development at Xavier University in Cincinnati, OH, and also spent time as an Assistant Basketball Coach at the University of Alabama and Mississippi University for Women.
Kelly can be reached at KBrooks@theRSCfirm.com or via LinkedIn.
GIGI ASSI
ASSOCIATE
Gigi is our associate recruiter here at Renaissance Search & Consulting, where she specifically focuses on corporate-level recruiting and sports administrative recruiting. Gigi has an undergraduate degree in political science with a minor in international relations and an MBA with a concentration in sports management. Gigi continues to grow within the recruiting industry so that she can help to implement more inclusive practices in both the sports and corporate world to ultimately impact these industries positively. She has always been a strong advocate for minority communities and will continue to do so through the work she does now. Previously, she worked for many nonprofit organizations to help create more inclusive practices in all communities. Gigi’s goal is to become a strong woman leader and help create more spaces for women to accomplish their career goals.
Gigi can be reached at Gigi@theRSCfirm.com or via LinkedIn.
ANDRE JOHNSON
VICE PRESIDENT OF CORPORATE AND UNIVERSITY PARTNERSHIPS
Andre brings a wealth of experience in corporate talent acquisition and higher education to the Renaissance Search & Consulting team. Prior to taking on the role of Vice President for Corporate and University Partnerships with RSC, Andre spent the last four years overseeing recruiting teams within the retail and financial services industries. These teams were responsible for building innovative strategies to attract, source, assess, and hire top-level diverse talent for high-growth technology and business roles.
Before pursuing a career in talent acquisition, Andre spent eight years working in higher education where he advised well over five hundred students and developed individualized support plans to enrich their academic experiences. These roles allowed Andre to gain a strong understanding of the university landscape while building and maintaining professional relationships with high-level administration, coaches, faculty, and support staff.
Andre is a dedicated professional who understands the importance of creating exceptional experiences for clients and candidates. He strives to accomplish this through a personalized approach, while prioritizing timely and accurate information with detailed-oriented delivery, in an ethical and confidential space.
Andre holds a master’s degree in counseling from Boston University, and a bachelor’s degree in sport management from the University of Delaware.
Andre can be reached at andre@theRSCfirm.com or via LinkedIn.
OLIVIA GUIDERA
VP OF OPERATIONS
Olivia serves as the VP of Operations for RSC. She supports Herb in developing and implementing adaptable business strategies, plans, and processes to ensure RSC is continuously operating at its greatest potential. Olivia received her undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Olivia has 8 years of experience working in marketing and business operations at companies of all sizes, including Adidas and Apple Inc.
Olivia can be reached at olivia@therscfirm.com or via LinkedIn.
ADAM GORDON
VICE PRESIDENT OF ATHLETICS
Adam Gordon brings over 17 years of on-campus experience to Renaissance Search and Consulting. He coached college basketball at Mississippi State, Clemson, Southeast Missouri State, University of Northern Colorado, College of Central Florida, and the University of Tampa.
In 2010 Adam co-founded Rising Coaches, an organization that provides community, development, and job opportunities to coaches looking to rise through the profession. From 2019-22 Adam served as the company’s CEO.
Adam also founded the 501c3 Rising Coaches Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Alliance in 2020, when their group partnered with twelve different social justice and minority coaching organizations with the goal of impacting change for equality in the coaching profession. The DEI Alliance has successfully executed several initiatives to help provide interview training and search firm connections for minority coaching candidates, create a pathway for former athletes to break into the coaching profession, a Women’s Empowerment Series, and their national Equality and Inclusion campaign, which saw over 150 NCAA Division I institutions participate in raising awareness for equality issues on their campuses.
Prior to joining Renaissance, Adam led over 25 executive searches for various head coaching, athletic administrative, and corporate positions.
Adam is based out of Birmingham, AL, and he and his wife Steph have two boys: Bentley and Oliver.
KEVIN ANDERSON
SENIOR CONSULTANT
“Kevin Anderson is one of the most student-athlete-centric ADs in the country. He is not someone who is a boardroom AD. That’s really his passion. That’s one of his distinguishing features.”
Tom McMillen, (President and CEO – LEAD 1 Association)
Recently, Kevin was honored and humbled to learn of his induction into the National Association of Director of Athletics (NACDA) Hall of Fame, joining former intercollegiate directors of athletics recognized for “their commitment and administrative excellence…high character and ethics.”
National Leadership
On a national level, Kevin has served on numerous NCAA committees including serving as chair of the NCAA Basketball Issues Committee. He was selected to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Academic Enhancement Group, which was the first to make positive changes academically with respect to Men’s Basketball. Kevin was selected by the NCAA Board of Governors to serve on the NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Ad Hoc Committee. He served on the NCAA Women’s Basketball Oversight Committees in 2012-13 as well as serving as a member of the NCAA Baseball Committee. Kevin led a groundbreaking initiative as Maryland athletics welcomed student-athletes, staff, University supporters and administrators from the greater Maryland area to the first ever LGBT Summit. In 2017, Maryland Athletics was recognized by the NCAA & MOAA as a national leader for diversity and inclusion and won the inaugural Fiesta Bowl NACDA Community Service Award. Anderson was elected and served as the President of the National Association for Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA), in 2015 he was inducted into the San Francisco State University Hall of Fame and the 2020 class for the NACDA Hall of Fame.
Kevin is leaving the Air Force Academy after overseeing to 10-3 football teams that won the First Responder Bowl and the Armed Forces Bowl. Also at Air Force under his supervision the men’s track and cross country teams won the indoor, outdoor and cross-country championships in consecutive years.
During nearly eight years as Director of Athletics at the University of Maryland, Kevin Anderson’s vision, external revenue successes, and business acumen allowed him to take Maryland Athletics to previously unseen heights across a variety of platforms. Winning 8 National Championships, 25 Big Ten Championships and 16 ACC Championships. During his tenure, the Athletic Department was recognized for having the highest graduation rate for student athletes in the school’s history. By several metrics things vastly improved. At Maryland, like many campuses, the students needed a way to engage with issues beyond athletics. They wanted an active voice and Kevin knew athletic program and the University would benefit from engaging our student athletes beyond the typical conversations about sports and academics. In 2015, he began an informal discussion group called Kicking it with Kevin. During his last two years at Maryland, Kicking it with Kevin grew considerably as a positive forum for students to come together with athletic leadership to discuss issues that mattered to them beyond athletics. The program was profiled in the Washington Post: http://wapo.st/2xn1UU6?tid=ss_mail&utm_term=.cb422bc58afb
Anderson was hired in September 2010 as director of athletics at Maryland after serving since 2004 in the same post at the U.S. Military Academy. At Army, Anderson was responsible for a 25-sport program that served more than 900 cadet-athletes. At Army he won a National Championship and 22 Patriot League Championships.
Kevin was the first African American Director of Athletics at both West Point and Maryland. He has worked at Stanford, Cal, CSUN and Oregon State. Before his time in college athletics he worked at Xerox, UNCF, the YMCA and the San Francisco Education Foundation.
He is a 1979 graduate of San Francisco State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science. He has attended the Sports Management Institute’s executive management program and is a product of the sales, marketing and new manager school at Xerox.
Anderson and his wife, Moira, have four children – daughters, Olivia and Michaela, and sons, Kevin Jr. and Chauncey and two grandchildren, Kevin III and Skylar.
