Our credibility comes from having been in the room.
Our Foundation
Ivan Perry's career began in uniform. As a U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer with deployments to Afghanistan, he developed a discipline that has shaped everything since. Assess the environment before the critical moment. Identify what is true versus what is assumed. Set conditions for execution rather than react to conditions after the fact. That instinct is embedded in every ADVON engagement.
The Operator Arc
After the Air Force, Ivan moved into executive search and then into the organizations themselves, serving in senior HR leadership roles at Activision Blizzard and Choice Hotels, where he built and led talent functions at scale. He has sat on both sides of the table as the advisor placing and assessing leaders, and as the operator accountable for talent strategy, recruiting infrastructure, and organizational effectiveness. That dual vantage point is what makes ADVON's advice practical rather than theoretical.
The Assessor Lens
Running through all of it is a deep commitment to understanding people accurately. Ivan is a certified Hogan Assessments practitioner and trained in the Korn Ferry Leadership Architect, two of the most rigorous frameworks available for evaluating how leaders perform, what motivates them, and where they carry risk. His approach to assessment is structured and evidence-based, with bias interrupters built in, because the quality of a talent decision is only as good as the quality of the data behind it.
ADVON takes its name from the military advance party, the team that goes in first to read the environment, surface what is actually true, and make execution possible for everyone who follows. That is what this firm does.
Ivan holds a degree from the United States Air Force Academy and a master's degree from Northwestern University. His career has spanned executive search at Heidrick and Struggles, Hanold Associates, Diversified Search, and Boyden, and senior in-house leadership at Activision Blizzard, Choice Hotels International, and the Internet Society. He is based in the Washington, D.C. area and works with clients nationally.
“ADVON Leadership Advisors was built on a straightforward premise. The most useful advisory comes from someone who has operated in the environments they are advising on, who has hired, assessed, led, and been accountable for the outcomes.”
Most good work starts with a single conversation.
If you are navigating a leadership challenge, a talent decision, or an assessment need, reach out. There is no intake process and no sales pitch. Just a direct conversation about whether we are the right fit for what you need.