Introduction
Jessica Magagna is the daughter of Search Associates’ founder, John Magagna, who established the organization in 1990 after a distinguished career as a teacher and school leader in the United States and overseas. Jessica joined Search Associates in 2002 as a Senior Associate focused on teacher recruitment. After years learning the business alongside her father, she was appointed CEO in 2018 upon his retirement. Today, as the sole owner of Search Associates, Jessica stewards the mission and integrity of her father’s legacy while guiding the organization’s continued growth and impact.
Background
Born in Tangier while her father served as Head of School at the American School of Tangier, Jessica spent her early years immersed in international education. After five years in Morocco, her family returned to the United States, where her father became headmaster of an independent school and her mother taught prekindergarten. The family later moved to Tehran, where her father led the American Community School and Jessica attended school for several years.
Jessica’s international perspective deepened through extensive time in Indonesia while her father headed Jakarta International School, as well as travel across Asia, Europe, and South America, visiting many international schools along the way.
She earned a B.A. in Communication Studies and Interpersonal Communication from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Her early career included roles as an Education Outreach Coordinator, teaching life skills to students in grades K through 5 and managing community programs, followed by leadership in retail management with a concentration on recruitment and training for upper level management. After more than a decade in that field, Jessica joined her father at Search Associates, first as a Senior Associate and later as CEO.
Family
Jessica comes from a family devoted to education. Her mother, Diane Magagna, was an early childhood educator who spent more than seven years teaching abroad in Egypt, Mali, Beirut, and Angola. Her father dedicated his career to teaching and leading schools, and to helping schools find outstanding educators around the world.
She lives in Northeast Pennsylvania, balancing leadership at Search with life as a mom to Ethan, now in his first year of college, and Rachel, 16
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.
