Dr. James McGuirk

President, DCM Executive Search

Dr. Jim McGuirk, President of DCM Executive Search, earned his Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Albany and provided consultation with nonprofit organizations to achieve strategic goals related to efficiency and effectiveness. He has extensive experience providing coaching to senior executives and middle management as well. Dr. McGuirk began his career as a direct care worker and despite the low pay, realized how much he enjoyed the work. He is licensed to practice in New York and Florida.

Dr McGuirk was the CEO/Executive Director of Astor Services for Children & Families in Rhinebeck, New York from 2002 to 2019 and served as President of the Children’s Foundation of Astor from 2002-2020. Throughout his decades of service at Astor, he never forgot the lessons learned when he provided direct services. Dr. McGuirk has 33 years of management experience, with 17 years as CEO at Astor. The organization is recognized nationally for its commitment to providing high-quality programs for children and their families. While at Astor, he grew the organization from a budget of $30 Million in revenue to $65 Million. During his tenure, Astor implemented many innovative programs and concepts much earlier than competitors, including School-Based Mental Health Services, Telehealth, Evidence-Based Practices, Outcome Measures, Medicaid Compliance and Continuous Quality Improvement, Consumer Satisfaction Surveys, and Lean Six Sigma. He has presented this work at many national conferences.

Dr. McGuirk is most proud of his commitment to family-driven care and diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging. Under Dr. McGuirk’s leadership, the agency participated in a number of awareness activities, including Undoing Racism by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond, Race Matters by The Annie E Casey Foundation, as well as numerous workshops for staff on understanding differences.

Dr. McGuirk is well-respected in his field, serving on many local, state, and national committees. Dr. McGuirk served as President of the NYS Coalition for Children’s Behavioral Health. He was a founding board member of two Health Homes Serving Children, The Collaborative for Children and Families (CCF) and the Children’s Health Home of Upstate New York, LLC (CHHUNY).