Howard Brown is searching for a new CEO after former chief Jamal Edwards announced earlier this year he would leave the LGBT health center.
In a statement to the media Tuesday, Howard Brown said a search firm, Kittleman, was hired to look for a new CEO, and a search committee had been named.
"We have every confidence in their ability to conduct a comprehensive, national search to identify highly qualified individuals who are also sensitive to the health and wellness needs of those we serve, and particularly the LGBT community, to fill this role," the release quoted Duke Alden, Howard Brown board chair, as saying.
The search committee includes business leaders, Howard Brown clients and employees, as well as current board members. According to the media release, Kittleman has worked with organizations including the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital and the University of Chicago Medical Center.
Richard M. King, president and CEO of Kittleman, said in the statement: "Our work will ensure that we identify a fully capable and vetted leader that can successfully lead this organization for the long term."
Edwards, a controversial figure to some former employees, helped lead the Uptown facility back to financial solvency after a period of instability marked by a federal investigation into whether the organization misspent grant money.
Howard Brown eventually agreed to repay $715,000 it got for HIV/AIDS research.
When Edwards took over, Howard Brown languished in a $4 million budget hole. At the start of this year, the facility had a surplus of more than $1 million and net assets of about $400,000, according to Howard Brown statistics.
Edwards accepted the position in 2010 and after his resignation, then-board-chair Karma Israelsen was named interim CEO.
Howard Brown expects to name a new CEO in spring of 2013.
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