As a Partner at the DeWinter Group, Derek helps to lead his organization and maintain its position as the premier Finance and Technology Search Firm in the Bay Area. In addition to working with clients and candidates, he helps set strategic direction, develop business, hire and train, and occasionally shares a funny story picked up during his 20+ years in the Search Business. In addition to the DeWinter Group, Derek currently serves as President of a National Search Organization called AAFA – The American Association of Finance & Accounting, is on the Board of Directors of Watermark, a non–profit membership and development organization comprised of Executive Women who have risen to the top of their fields, and is on the Board of the Los Gatos Chapter of boys team charity, Inc (btc). Derek graduated from Santa Clara University and lives in Los Gatos, California, with his wife and 3 children. He has lived in Oakland, Michigan, Germany, and Oahu but is from Maui and per usual Maui culture, has been known to surf, spearfish, and talk pidgin if necessary.

Shane is a Partner with the DeWinter Group and manages the day-to-day operations of the Consulting Practice. He specializes in special projects and high-level interim support in the areas of SEC Reporting, Revenue Recognition, Interim Controller, FP&A, Tax, Audit, Consolidations, and General Accounting. Shane has over a decade of financial staffing experience and continues to maintain a large network of clients and consultants in the Bay Area.

Prior to the DeWinter Group, Shane held various roles in production and management at Robert Half International in Honolulu and San Jose. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Long Beach State University. Shane is originally from Kauai, Hawaii and currently resides in Willow Glen with his wife and two children.

Mike is one of the founding partners of the DeWinter Group. He oversees the management of the permanent placement team located in San Francisco and Silicon Valley. For his clients, Mike focuses primarily on retained searches at the Director to VP level. After growing up on the East Coast, Mike ventured out West and graduated from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting. Subsequently, he spent 3 years at KPMG in Los Angeles and after public accounting, Mike joined BankAmerica Corporation in San Francisco. He began his recruiting career with Parker and Lynch in 1996.

Mike resides in the heart of Silicon Valley with his wife and two children. You can find him at his children’s lacrosse games, coaching a youth soccer team, or fundraising for local schools.

David Sullivan founded the Consulting arm of the DeWinter Group in 2008. David’s public accounting, finance, and leadership experience prepared him to launch the practice, which provides Special Project & High–level Interim support services and has grown to be one of the largest in the Bay Area.

David 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 rank among his Bay Area peers, developing a solid network of satisfied clients and building relationships with proven consultants in the areas of Accounting, Finance, and IT consulting.

David graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting.

Don began his recruiting career over 20 years ago and joined DeWinter Group upon their launch in 2000. Today, he serves as a Partner for DeWinter Associates (DeWinter Group’s contingent search division). Don has expertise sourcing candidates for all levels of an organization and takes pride in the lasting partnerships he has built with Bay Area finance leaders. While he continues to work with individual professionals dispensing career guidance, he also enjoys consulting with companies on organizational development and process improvement projects to help CFOs grow and scale their business.

Don can leverage his extensive network of finance and accounting professionals to ensure the success of any search. With a singular commitment and nuanced approach, Don has successfully placed hundreds of professionals into roles they love.

Don is a family man and spends all his free time with his wife and three sons. He enjoys the local art and music scenes and is always open to receiving hiking or camping recommendations.

A Bay Area native, Kevin Rui graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce. After graduation, he took his first step into the Accounting world as an Auditor for a Big 4 firm out of their San Jose office. After 7 years in audit, Kevin moved on to a tech startup as their SEC Reporting Manager, working with them all the way to post-IPO. Kevin joined the DeWinter Group in August 2019 as our Controller.

Outside of work, Kevin enjoys staying active via a variety of activities: marathons, triathlons, biking, yoga, etc. During hockey season, you can catch Kevin rooting for the San Jose Sharks.

Originally from San Francisco, Margie Bernal earned her Bachelors of Science from California State University, Hayward. She is a seasoned accounting professional with over 15 years of experience, with an emphasis in Payroll and Accounts Payable. She has her payroll experience from Virgin America Airlines, Stanford University, and other various start-up companies.

Outside of work, Margie loves to spend time with her family and friends, whether it be a Lake Tahoe trip or enjoying a 49er game.

Originally from Seattle, Amy Ainsworth graduated from the University of Washington with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration. She then relocated to the Bay Area in 2005 and started her career in Accounting and Finance at a Big 4 firm. Amy has management experience in various industries and joined DeWinter Group as VP of Finance in June 2019.

Outside of work, Amy spends most of her time with her family, a beautiful boy, and girl. She also attended Le Cordon Bleu when she lived in London and continues to pursue her love for pastries in her free time.

Originally from the Philippines, Ivee Bruce moved out to the Bay Area in 2000 after she graduated from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. Ivee started off her career in a Big 4 accounting firm as a Staff Auditor, earning her CPA in 2006. She was introduced to the DeWinter Group in 2007, continuing consulting work in SEC Reporting and Revenue for various clients before converting full-time to DeWinter Group as a Senior Accountant.

Outside of work, Ivee can most likely be found at The Bar Method in Campbell, either taking classes or volunteering her time at the front desk. She is a fanatic of barre studio workouts and always enjoys a good musical.

Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Sarah Sachs moved to the Bay Area in 1997. After graduating high school, Sarah attended the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where she earned a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology. She began her career in staffing in 2012 working with a large, publicly-traded recruitment firm. For the last several years, Sarah has worked with a variety of boutique companies across the Bay Area to build and manage their recruiting teams.

At the DeWinter Group, Sarah will focus her efforts on managing and streamlining internal recruitment efforts as the company continues to expand their footprint across the Bay. Her proven experience recruiting for high performing teams have enabled her to continuously excel and generate lasting relationships.

Outside of recruiting, Sarah enjoys spending time with family and friends, relaxing at the beach, living an active life, cooking, drinking all the delicious wine the Bay has to offer, and traveling.

A Bay Area native, Nelly is currently completing her Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Studies with a minor in Global Leadership and Innovation at San Jose State University. She joins the DeWinter Group as an Administrative Intern in Silicon Valley, supporting the DeWinter Group's recruiters and sales professionals throughout their recruitment efforts. In her free time, she enjoys dancing to Latin music, going on hikes, and traveling to tropical locations.

Norma Sanchez graduated from San Francisco State University, majoring in Communications. Originally, her plan was to be in media as a TV host or news anchor; however, life took her down the accounting route. She started her career in accounts receivable and continued with accounts payable, totaling over 6 years of experience.

Her hands are full handling her 2 children. She loves the outdoors and spending time with family.

Kit, born in Oakland and raised in San Jose, brings over 9 years of experience in administration, project coordination, and technical support. He’s self–motivated and driven to support executives of the firm as well as all internal staff. He is also a team–oriented worker who thrives under pressure and new challenges.

Born and raised in the Bay Area, Denise began her career in the Accounting and Human Resources field over 15 years ago. Her role as Accounting & HR Manager encompasses all aspects of accounting and related tasks, as well as the administration of our new hire onboarding, employee benefit program, and 401K plan. She is based in our Campbell office and works closely and is committed to excellent service with our candidates and clients.

Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, skiing, biking, and spending time at her family cabin in Lake Tahoe.

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.

Originally from San Jose, Vivien Trinh graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and concentrated in Human Resources and Management from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. Throughout university, she was an active member of several organizations, including the business fraternity, Alpha Kappa Psi, where she worked as a Development Trainer for almost four years. Before graduating, she also joined a healthcare firm as a pro-bono consultant, where she was responsible for coordinating market research focus groups and analyzing survey data to develop a business framework for launching a new contraceptive. Throughout her undergraduate career, Vivien did freelance photography, where she worked on a variety of projects, from taking professional headshots to capturing life’s little moments. As Front Desk Administrator, Vivien is responsible for coordinating and supporting the day-to-day efforts of the San Francisco Office’s recruiters.

Outside of work, Vivien is always moving. She can often be found dancing, baking, strength training, watching basketball, or out taking photos to add to her photography portfolio.

A San Francisco native, Janny Lee graduated from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor's Degree in International Business and Chinese Language. During her undergraduate studies, Janny applied her academic studies to a year-long study abroad program in China, where she served as an Event Planning Intern with the world’s largest non-profit dedicated to workforce readiness and professional development for youth.

Outside of work, Janny volunteers for C.A.M.P San Francisco, a non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and engagement. She loves exploring the world in search of gorgeous sights, fantastic food, and awesome concerts.

Allison Dugas, or Alli, graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 2012 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Global Management and a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Language and Literature. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, this yinzer began her career in account management and marketing with a boutique healthcare consulting firm, where she was responsible for East Coast sales and client engagement management. She joined the DeWinter Group’s Pittsburgh affiliate, Pinnacle Accounting and Finance, in 2014 as an Accounting and Finance Recruiter before being promoted to Manager of Business Development and Marketing. During her tenure at Pinnacle, she identified a huge opportunity to assist great executive staffing firms with communicating their message beyond traditional recruiting means. As a result, in November 2015, she left to start a boutique creative agency dedicated to improving the reach of executive staffing companies in local communities with Pinnacle’s support.

As of January 2019, Alli joins the DeWinter Group as the company’s Director of Marketing. She is responsible for working with our organization’s contract, direct hire, and retained search divisions to assist with improving each line of business’ footprint across the greater Bay Area.

In addition to her work at the DeWinter Group, Allison serves as the President to the Board of Directors for the Western Pennsylvania Healthcare Financial Management Association, an organization dedicated to providing ongoing education and networking opportunities for the greater Pittsburgh area’s healthcare financial executives. She also volunteers her time providing marketing support for the American Association of Finance and Accounting’s various social media and blogging efforts.