Employee Bios
DeWinter Associates
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Derek DeWinter – Partner
With over 15 years of experience in the industry his roots in the Bay Area Finance and Accounting world have deepened considerably since starting to recruit back in 1994. Derek has a genuine passion for what he does and brings a uniquely personal approach to the recruiting process. We work with the most important thing of all – people. Your search, your needs, and the future you’re trying to create for yourself or the organization you’re trying to build is of tremendous importance. Derek looks forward to working with you to help you achieve the professional goals you’ve set for yourself. Originally from Maui, Derek relocated to the Bay Area in the 1989 to attend Santa Clara University and pursue an Accounting degree. Degree in hand, he spent time at Coopers & Lybrand and Applied Materials and in 1994 began his recruiting career. After 6 years building a business and starting up a new office for a Regional Boutique search firm, he started The DeWinter Group with his business partner Mike Tomasello. The DeWinter Group opened doors in the Fall of 2000. Under their combined leadership and direction the firm has grown in size and increased its footprint in the Bay Area Financial Recruiting world. Email: derek@dewinterassociates.com |
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Mike Tomasello – Partner
Mike is a founding partner of DeWinter Associates and focuses his time building the reputation of DeWinter Associates and expanding the services provided by the DeWinter Group. Mike also manages the Silicon Valley search practice and team of recruiters placing finance, accounting, and human resource managers and professional staff. He focuses on both retainer and contingent searches for senior management-level positions in the Finance organizations of his clients. Mike graduated from Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo with a B.S. degree in Accounting, and subsequently spent 3 years at KPMG in Los Angeles. After public accounting, Mike joined BankAmerica Corporation in San Francisco. There he was a member of the SEC Reporting team and the Retail Banking Finance group. He began his recruiting career with Parker and Lynch in 1996. Email: mike@dewinterassociates.com |
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Steve Meyers
Steve has a BS degree in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Steve specializes in the recruitment of financial, marketing, and strategic planning professionals. Steve joined DeWinter Associates after successfully completing seven years of executive search with Luciani, Schlatter and Associates and eleven years at Montgomery Resources. In addition to his over twenty years of experience in executive search, Steve spent seven years in management positions at Chevron, GTE, and The Gillette Company. Steve is from Boston but moved to the Bay Area in 1981 because “I couldn’t stand to watch the Red Sox fall apart any longer”. Email: SMeyers@dewinterassociates.com |
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Anne Ho
Anne, a native New Yorker, is a graduate of Harvard Business School. Her post-MBA experience in the Bay Area includes management positions in business development as well as company finance planning with Gap, Inc. Prior to that she worked in corporate finance at Pixar Animation Studios and directly for the President of Imax Film in a business development capacity. Other work experiences include three years as an associate consultant in a Big Four’s financial advisory services group specializing in turnaround management consulting and as a financial derivatives analyst at a leading investment bank. Anne received a merit scholarship to the Stern School of Business at New York University and graduated with honors with a dual degree in Finance and Management & Organizational Behavior while concurrently performing as a lead actress on an Emmy nominated television show. Email: Anne@dewinterassociates.com |
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Josh Fisher
Josh, a native of Northern California, is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo where he earned a degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance. Based in the San Francisco office, Josh has nearly ten years of experience focused on the recruitment and placement of finance and accounting professionals throughout the Bay Area. Josh began his career as an Executive Recruiter with a boutique search firm in Beverly Hills that specialized in the placement of Senior Managers and Directors with top-tier consulting organizations. He has a successful track record of matching high caliber candidates with established companies as well as some of Silicon Valley’s most exciting startups. Email: JFisher@dewinterassociates.com |
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Don Seeley
Don Seeley began recruiting finance professionals in 1995, and has established many successful long-term business relationships. He attended the University of Redlands in Southern California, and majored in Business. Don worked in finance at National Semiconductor prior to starting his career as a recruiter. He is committed to consistently finding and working with top-tier candidates and clients throughout the Bay Area. Email: don@dewinterassociates.com |
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Kathy Hawkes
Kathy graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in Business Economics and an emphasis in Accounting. She returned home to the Bay Area to begin her professional career at a local accounting firm where she obtained her CPA license. Kathy spent five and a half years in public accounting, and then moved on to Mercury Interactive where she held management roles in Accounting and Corporate Finance for nine years. After Mercury was acquired by Hewlett Packard in 2006 she transitioned to financial recruiting at DeWinter Associates. Her experience in both accounting and finance provides an invaluable service to our clients and candidates. Email: Kathy@dewinterassociates.com |
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Raj Patel
Raj Patel is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles. After obtaining his degree in Economics, Raj joined Ernst and Young in San Francisco, where he earned his CPA while auditing a wide variety of public and private entities. Raj then spent five years at Charles Schwab where he was a key contributor to their SEC Reporting and Technical Accounting departments. Based in the San Francisco office, Raj now leverages his extensive experience as a CPA in the recruitment and placement of finance and accounting professionals throughout the Bay Area. Email: rpatel@dewinterassociates.com |
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Donna Sepe
Donna graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in Accounting. She moved out to the Bay Area from Pittsburgh, PA in 2001, because she couldn’t take the cold winters anymore. Donna began her professional career as an auditor with BDO Seidman, LLP in San Francisco, specializing mainly in the manufacturing and biopharmaceutical industries. She then gained SEC and retail experience while working in the External Reporting department at Gap, Inc. Donna most recently worked as an Assistant Project Controller at a real estate investment company managing the accounting for approximately 20 properties, before transitioning to her role as a recruiter. Donna is able to leverage her professional background in accounting and finance to successfully bring together high quality candidates and clients. Email: dsepe@dewinterassociates.com |
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Sonia Sekhon
Sonia, a native from Minnesota, graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in Accounting. After graduating, she worked for The State Farm Insurance Companies where she joined their accounting management rotation program. In 1993 she relocated to the Bay Area where she worked for LSI Logic for several years as a financial analyst supporting the Worldwide Field Sales organization. In 1997 she transitioned into recruiting and joined Parker & Lynch. Based in our Silicon Valley office, Sonia continues her commitment to the recruitment and placement of top accounting and finance professionals. Email: ssekhon@dewinterassociates.com |
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Wendy Huang
Wendy graduated from Santa Clara University with a BS degree in Accounting in 2001. She began her professional career as an Auditor with PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP in San Jose, CA. She then worked in Corporate FP&A and Business Unit Finance for several publicly traded high-tech companies in Silicon Valley. With her skilled background in Finance and Accounting, Wendy then transitioned to recruiting. She launched her recruiting career in 2006 with a Fortune 500 search firm before joining DeWinter Associates. Wendy specializes in the recruitment and placement of financial professionals and provides efficient staffing solutions to clients throughout the Bay Area. Email: wendy@dewinterassociates.com |
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Jennifer Lee DeWinter Associates – Recruiter Jennifer began her professional career as an Auditor with Coopers & Lybrand in San Francisco after graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in Accounting in 1991. After three years in public accounting developing a specialization in the investment banking industry and higher education, she worked in the finance and accounting department of several publicly traded and privately owned financial services and high tech companies. Over her ten years of work experience in the Bay Area, Jennifer assumed positions ranging from Senior Accountant to Controllership roles. Her hands-on and management experience in auditing, financial close, FP&A, SEC reporting, and financial system conversion is invaluable in providing recruiting services for our clients and candidates. Email: Jennifer@dewinterassociates.com |
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Debbie Hom
Debbie graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a BA in Business Communications and from the University of Southern California with an MBA in Marketing and Finance. In addition, Debbie is certified as a Professional in Human Resources by the HRCI and has both staffing and industry experience. Prior to joining the firm, Debbie was a Senior Recruiter for TMP Worldwide (formerly Management Solutions) and a Client Services Manager with Merit Resource Group. Further, Debbie has worked as an HR consultant for several high tech companies in Silicon Valley. Debbie specializes in the recruitment and placement of Human Resource professionals. Email: Debbie@dewinterassociates.com |
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Mariah Moody
Mariah graduated from the University of Portland with a BBA in Accounting before beginning her career as an auditor in the Portland office of Deloitte. In 2005, she transferred to San Francisco where she focused primarily on the energy industry. Following her time at Deloitte she spent two years at Bare Escentuals as a senior accountant, where her responsibilities included consolidation and international accounting. She then transitioned to her role as a recruiter. Leveraging her background in public accounting and private industry, Mariah is committed to the successful placement of accounting and finance professionals in the Bay Area. Email: mmoody@dewinterassociates.com |
DeWinter Consulting
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Darren Louttit – Partner
Darren started working in Consulting Services in the bay area in 2000 at a leading international search firm. During his tenure there he received multiple Chairman’s Club awards – the highest accolade the firm recognizes. Prior to that Darren worked in accounting and finance for 8 years both in the US and Australia. David and Darren launched DeWinter Consulting & DeWinter Staffing in 2008 and 2009, respectively. He holds a BS in Accounting from Bentley University. Email: Darren@dewinterconsulting.com |
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David Sullivan – Partner
David Sullivan started his career as an auditor for Arthur Andersen in San Jose, before moving into Finance for a medical device company in the Midwest. In 2000, he went into Business Development in Chicago before relocating to the Bay Area and joining an international staffing firm in 2003. During his tenure in the Silicon Valley, he consistently achieved the highest ranking among his Bay Area peers, developing a solid network of satisfied clients and building relationships with proven consultants in the areas of Accounting, Finance & IT consulting. David graduated from Santa Clara University with a BS in Accounting. David and Darren launched DeWinter Consulting & DeWinter Staffing in 2008 and 2009, respectively. Email: David@dewinterconsulting.com |
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David Gleit
David began his professional career as a corporate banker with Union Bank in San Francisco. He later took management positions at HSBC and Sanwa Bank, where he specialized in international trade finance. Ten years ago, he started his recruiting career at a leading recruiting and staffing firm, where he helped pioneer the firm’s senior-level finance and accounting consulting service in Silicon Valley. David is a graduate of Duke University, has a Master’s degree from Stanford, and attended the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. Email: Gleit@dewinterconsulting.com |
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Kathy Herrmann
Kathy started her career in public accounting. She later moved to New York where she held management positions in Accounting and Finance in the Wine and Spirits, Consumer Products, and Entertainment industries. She relocated to San Francisco in 2004 where she was a Group Controller for a large Biotech firm. In 2006, Kathy joined an international consulting services firm where she focused on client service and business development. She was successful in building and maintaining strong relationships with clients and consultants in the areas of Accounting, Finance, Human Capital, IT, and Supply Chain. Kathy graduated from Florida International University with a BS in Accounting Email: Kathy@dewinterconsulting.com |
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Kelly Burns
Kelly is a native Californian and has worked in the consulting services industry for the past 14 years starting with an international consulting firm from its inception in 1996. Before joining the DeWinter Group, she spent 9 years as a recruiting director in the San Francisco Bay Area, partnering with project professionals in a variety of service lines, including finance and accounting, internal audit, supply chain, IT, and human resources. She began her career with Deloitte and Touche and holds a bachelors degree from UC Berkeley. Email: Kelly@dewinterconsulting.com |
DeWinter Staffing
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Shane Oberg – Partner
Originally from Hawaii, Shane joined the Honolulu office of an International Staffing Firm in 2005 where he focused on Accounting & Finance. He was soon promoted to manage and develop the San Jose Division in early 2007. Shane was instrumental in forming strong relationships with new clients and professionals around the South Bay, nearly doubling the list of clientele within the first year. He was awarded the President’s Club merit for his efforts in Business Development in 2007. Shane has an excellent track record with CFO’s, Controllers, HR Directors, and Accounting Managers around the Bay Area. He joined the DeWinter Group in 2009 to become Managing Partner of DeWinter Staffing. Shane holds a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration from Long Beach State University. Email: shane@dewinterstaffing.com |
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JP Yujuico
JP has an MBA from the Amos Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth and graduated with honors from Bowdoin College with a degree in Economics. Prior to his career in staffing, JP was an Operations Finance Manager at Applied Materials and an Executive Business Analyst at Eaton Corporation in Cleveland, OH. He also co-founded a outsourcing company in the Philippines that grew to over one thousand employees. Email: jp@dewinterstaffing.com |
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Tracy LeDeit
Tracy LeDeit graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelors of Science, concentration in Accounting. She started her career as an auditor for Price Waterhouse in downtown San Jose, where she spent 3 years in audit and 1 year in tax, prior to obtaining her CPA. After 4 successful years at PW, she left to gain exposure to large high tech public companies. She continued her career in the private sector and has gained over 15 years of experience in accounting and finance. She has held various positions ranging from the Accounting Manager of a small private start up to a Forensic Accountant at a local CPA Firm. Email: tracy@dewinterstaffing.com |
DeWinter Group 