Gene, the Managing Director of O’Rourke, has over 40 years of recruiting, auditing and consulting experience. Thirty-five of those years had been devoted to credit unions, banks, insurance companies, and other financial institutions providing recruiting, auditing and financial consulting services such as asset/liability management, mergers, executive search, and strategic planning to many of the largest credit unions in the country. Retirement planning for senior executives, succession planning for credit unions. Credit union corporate governance, and credit union taxation issues – particularly Unrelated Business Income – are emerging areas that Gene has been focusing upon recently. Gene is responsible for founding and overseeing the RSM McGladrey’s Credit Union Internal Audit Co-Sourcing unit. His industry-specific credentials include Certified Public Accountant, Certified Fraud Examiner and Certified Risk Management Specialist. Gene was former member of the AICPA Credit Union Committee. He is the founder and a Board member of O’Rourke & Associates LLC, where he currently oversees large complex executive search projects.

In addition to his work with credit unions, Gene is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Trust for Credit Unions, an SEC registered investment company serving credit unions and a member of the Board of Trustees of Presentation Center LLC, a nonprofit organization providing strategic planning and personal growth retreat services to individuals and organizations located in Northern California. Gene is also a board member on the River Exchange, a non-profit organization devoted to promoting healthy watersheds through community involvement in stewardship, restoration and education. Gene has also been a member of the Board of Directors of a publicly held, SEC registered insurance company. These board memberships provide Gene with invaluable hands-on corporate governance experience. He has authored numerous articles on credit union executive recruiting, accounting, auditing and tax issues, and credit union corporate governance. He’s also a frequent speaker at local and national credit union conferences. Gene’s professional memberships include Beta Alpha Psi – National Accounting Honor Society, Beta Gamma Sigma – National Business Honor Society, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, and the California Society of Certified Public Accountants. Gene has a Masters in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting from California State University, San Francisco, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History with a minor in Philosophy from the University of San Francisco.

Mike is primarily responsible for managing the search practice for O’Rourke & Associates. He is actively engaged and works closely with the board of directors on all Chief Executive Officer searches performed by our firm.  Mike provides strategic oversight to all search engagements, manages client relationships and drives new business development. He has been performing executive placements for more than 18 years. Prior to joining the firm he worked for a regional executive search firm in the San Francisco Bay Area whose client base consisted of fortune 100 companies. Here Mike focused on executive level finance, operations, and marketing positions.

Mike brings strong expertise in organizational development, compensation design, recruitment strategy and workforce planning. Prior to recruiting, Mike worked in Finance for a biotechnology firm in San Francisco where he was responsible for all finance and human resource functions. Mike has a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Northeastern University in Boston where he majored in Finance and International Business.

Heather Toro is a director on our executive search and consulting team where she is responsible for managing executive search projects nationwide for our credit union clients. Prior to joining O’Rourke & Associates, Heather spent her career as a corporate sales professional with Fortune 1000 companies such as Automatic Data Processing and Ceridian. In this capacity, Heather was responsible strategic account management and new business development of an expanding client base. Heather transitioned into executive search working for a multibillion dollar international corporation where she specialized in the recruitment of high level financial management professionals. Heather managed a San Francisco office that was credited with establishing the firm’s market positioning that focused on building accounting & finance departments with growing pre-IPO companies as well as Fortune 500 companies. Heather attended University of Maryland in College Park, MD.

Jim is Senior Director, Executive Search and Consulting at O’Rourke & Associates.
Previously, Jim was a Vice President with TMG Financial Services and Managing Director of CU Structured Finance, LLC. In these roles Jim promoted credit union collaboration and worked with credit unions on multiple investment and lending opportunities.

Jim has spent the bulk of his career working with credit unions as a Corporate Credit Union Executive. He served as President/CEO of VACORP Federal Credit Union and Chief Operating Officer of Southeast Corporate Federal Credit Union. Jim also served as a Board Member of the CU Business Group, Board Member for the Credit Unions Care Foundation of Virginia and an Executive Committee Member of the Association of Corporate Credit Unions.

Jim works from our office in Des Moines, Iowa. He earned his MBA from the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship at Nova Southeastern University and BS Finance from Florida State University.

Jean Venus Marrow is the Director, Executive Search with O’Rourke & Associates, assisting the firm with candidate development and search projects nationwide. Her experience managing and developing talent in the retail and banking industries has afforded her the ability to recognize key talent for our credit union partners. She has succeeded in being a genuine resource by building strong relationships with our clients and candidates alike. Her previous recruitment experience comes from time with a global recruitment firm that specialized in the accounting and finance arena. Jean’s hands on experience working with Washington Mutual Bank allows for her to understand the operational and service demands of our clients and identify the technical aptitude required in the specific recruitment projects.

Jean is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and is a long time fan of the San Francisco Giants. She obtained her Bachelors of Science in Business from the University of Phoenix.

Frieda Afandi is the Corporate Services Manager at O’Rourke & Associates. She is responsible for managing client relations, compensation project management, spearheading marketing efforts, database/technology operations, and daily process support to our executive consulting team. Prior to joining O’Rourke & Associates, Frieda spent 7 years working in the travel industry where she specialized in planning and organizing group travel to Asia, Europe and Africa. Frieda holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and minor in Criminal Justice from San Francisco State University.

Daniel Giddings is an Associate Recruiter with O’Rourke & Associates. Daniel is primarily responsible for nationwide candidate development and relationship management in support of O’Rourke’s executive search engagements. Daniel drives proactive candidate recruitment strategies utilizing market research, social media, and O’Rourke’s extensive industry network. Daniel brings to O’Rourke first-hand operations experience through various positions held in banking, along with a strong background in sales. Daniel’s most recent experience in corporate recruiting with a Fortune 500 company provides the solid foundation and functional understanding to effectively identify and qualify high quality candidates for our credit union clients. Daniel is a native to the Bay Area and a huge sports fan. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Humanities locally at Saint Mary’s College of California.