In 2014, Lars Leafblad co-founded Ballinger | Leafblad, a St. Paul executive search and selection consulting firm, to serve civic clients such as foundations, higher education institutions, and nonprofits. Leafblad helps those organizations fill open executive roles. In addition to candidate placement, newly placed executives work with the firm’s onboarding coaches, as well as a leadership advisor network composed of executive mentors recruited by the firm. A serial civil servant who founded the nonprofit Pollen Midwest, Leafblad also served as chief development officer for the Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, co-chaired the civic practice at executive search firm KeyStone Search, and led the Bush Fellowship leadership programs for the Bush Foundation.