ERIC N. PETERSON

About Eric N. Peterson

Eric Peterson is a Partner at Ward Howell International, based in Cleveland, Ohio.

Eric has 30 years of executive search consulting experience, having served Fortune 1000 corporations, hospitals and healthcare systems, privately held businesses, and nonprofit organizations. His nonprofit work includes consulting with and advising Boards of Directors on their selection of CEO/Executive Director candidates for chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, professional and business associations, cultural arts and educational institutions, and social and human service agencies.

Eric’s diverse clients have included Akron Urban League, Association of Washington Business, Austin Chamber, BE NKY Growth Partnership, Benjamin Rose Institute on Aging, Boulder Chamber, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County, Chattanooga Area Chamber, Cleveland Clinic Health System, Council for Entrepreneurial Development, Culver City Chamber, Economic Development Alliance, Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber, Five Rivers MetroParks, Greater Cheyenne Chamber, Greater Cleveland Food Bank, Greater Des Moines Partnership, Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, Greater Sioux Falls Chamber, Greater Topeka Chamber, Holden Forests & Gardens, Huntsville/Madison County Chamber, In His Steps Foundation, International Anesthesia Research Society, Kentucky Chamber, North Central Massachusetts Chamber, Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership, Ohio State Bar Association, One Southern Indiana, Quad Cities Chamber, Sacramento Metro Chamber, Seattle Metropolitan Chamber, San Luis Obispo Chamber, Selected Independent Funeral Homes, Sioux Falls Development Foundation, Tucson Metro Chamber, United Way, and Virginia Bar Association.

Previously, Eric served as Managing Director & Principal of WAVERLY PARTNERS, a national retained executive search firm formed in 2001 with offices in Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Kansas City. The firm has been named by Hunt-Scanlon Media as one of the Top 60 Non-Profit Search Firms in the United States and is the preferred provider of executive search services for the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives. Before WAVERLY PARTNERS, Eric served as Vice President & Managing Director of the Cleveland office of StratfordGroup, a “top 20” national executive search firm. Earlier, he was Manager of Executive Search Consulting at Ernst & Young LLP. Eric began his career with recruiting and employment management responsibilities at AmeriTrust Company N.A. in Cleveland, as well as training and development and branch office management experience at Star Bank in Cincinnati.

Eric earned his BA degree in English from Denison University and his MBA degree in Finance from Xavier University. He is a member of the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, International Economic Development Council, Western Association of Chamber Executives, and Network of Nonprofit Search Consultants, an association of U.S. and Canadian search practitioners. In addition, Eric served on the Board of Directors of the Community Service Alliance in Cleveland, a nonprofit agency that provides long-term transitional housing and support services to men coming out of homelessness. His book, Career Building for the Chamber Professional: The Definitive Guide to Moving Up in the Chamber World, was published by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.