Shelly Gourlay

SENIOR CONSULTANT

The Connector

Shelly studied journalism and creative writing in college with the intention of becoming either an investigative reporter furthering social justice causes or a novelist, but her first job out of school was with an executive search firm. She spent six years identifying talent for retained search firms in the Bay Area before moving back to her home state of Oregon. Over the next two plus decades, she spent 14 years in corporate talent acquisition roles for Nike and Columbia Sportswear, and another 10 as an independent recruiter. Eight years ago, Shelly joined the University of Oregon, where she focused on connecting graduate students with internships and post-graduate job opportunities and on building partnerships with companies around the world. Professionally and personally, Shelly has always been about connecting dots, people and purpose. An empathetic listener, an adept communicator, and a generous collaborator, Shelly engages enthusiastically to identify a client’s talent needs, articulate their objectives and find the perfect fit – whether it’s a search project or providing career journey advice.