Employee Spotlight: Rodney Ferguson

We’re proud to welcome Chief Operating Officer Rodney Ferguson to The Clearing. Below, we’ll get to know Rodney in his own words and learn how his experience in journalism, public policy, and international development have shaped his belief in the importance of public trust and The Clearing’s role in helping restore it.

My Journey to The Clearing

My road to The Clearing has been an interesting one. I am a native of Alabama and spent my undergrad years at Birmingham-Southern College. I then studied for a year at The University of St Andrews in Scotland before earning my master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

After graduation, I began my career in journalism: a summer internship at The New York Times; a fellowship at The Wall Street Journal; and then a job in the Washington bureau of The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer when papers still had regional bureaus. I love journalism, print journalism particularly, but saw fairly early on that it was not a growth industry. It did allow me to meet my wife, however, while playing softball on the Ellipse of the White House in the journalism league!

Then came kids, a mortgage, and a shift from journalism into professional services, where I’ve worked in everything from education to public affairs, including rewarding experiences at The Edison Project, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and Lipman Hearne. After 14 years at Lipman Hearne, I became the president and CEO of Winrock International, a development organization focused on agriculture, environment, climate, and human rights efforts operating in 50 countries around the world.

Earlier this year, a friend and client told me about a firm and a group of people I should get to know – The Clearing. I was immediately enamored with The Clearing’s work and philosophy and before long was talking with CEO Tara Carcillo and Chief Risk Officer, Wendy Reid. I saw an opportunity to support the current executive team to advance the organization, and couldn’t be more excited about it.

An Extraordinary Opportunity

No one can deny that organizational culture, alignment, leadership design, and a coherent, mission-forward strategy are more crucial today than ever before. The impact of COVID-19, coupled with a decade of political turbulence, has heightened uncertainty and anxiety in the workplace. In such conditions, focusing on Employee Experience, Customer Experience, and workplace culture is essential for organizational success. This is why finding a place like The Clearing, dedicated to addressing these critical issues, is such a remarkable opportunity. I am genuinely excited to be part of this firm, which has risen to meet the challenges of our time, and I am eager to help unlock our team’s full potential and support our client engagements.

Tackling Extraordinary Challenges

As I mentioned, I spent much of my career in public policy and public affairs. A consistent theme in those areas is Public Trust, or more specifically, the trust the public places in government, non-profits, and corporates to effectively meet the challenges facing our society as well as the planet.

Over time, we have seen public trust erode. Because of a lack of public trust, people call into question the need for government services, the quality of the people who provide them, and the resources necessary to operate them. The same can be said for corporate and non-profits as well. That makes restoring public trust our biggest challenge– one that The Clearing is uniquely positioned to support thanks to its work in public and private sector employee experience and customer experience.

If I could give one piece of advice to all leaders, it is to recognize this challenge exists and that our federal leaders are in a shared position of power to help fix it. By working on their organization’s EX, CX, or mission, they’re directly working to improve public trust. That means this is no time for clock watchers; it is a time for action. I’m thrilled to be a part of an organization committed to helping leaders drive that action. If there are ways The Clearing can help your organization, I would love to chat. Reach out anytime – I look forward to speaking with you.