View Our Clients“It’s our mission to have a positive impact on peoples’ lives by empowering organizations to increase their workforce performance and deliver outstanding value to the clients and communities they serve.”
Why Acendre
It’s about your success and results. Acendre helps organizations recruit, onboard, measure, engage and develop their people to improve workforce performance. Harnessing insights from people analytics, we partner with organizations to help them gain data-driven insight through talent and performance management.
We believe that talent management technology, underpinned by people analytics, is fundamental to transforming organizational performance.
Our Journey
Acendre was formed in 1997 (as NGA.NET) in Australia, with co-founder Mike Giuffrida’s vision of revolutionizing talent management. Initially focused on recruitment and talent acquisition, Acendre has evolved to provide talent and performance management systems that are robust, insightful people analytics that today serve many of the world’s largest enterprises. As Mike leads Acendre to new heights, he continues to instill a passion to our customers and employees that talent management, underpinned by people analytics, is fundamental to transforming organizational performance.
In 2010, Acendre entered the North American market, where the company has quickly established a leadership position in the United States federal government. Today, with offices in three continents, the company’s solutions are deployed in over 200 of the world’s largest organizations, including almost 100 federal agencies, helping them recruit, onboard, engage and develop their employees to improve workforce performance. A recipient of numerous awards and with almost 400,000 users, Acendre processes over two million resumes a year and over two million transactions every week.
200+ Global Customers. Millions of Applicants, Jobs and Employees Managed
Acendre Board
Bob Morse
Board Member
Bob Morse founded Strattam Capital in 2013 and serves as Managing Partner. Previously, Bob was a Partner at Oak Hill Capital Partners, where he led the Technology Vertical and was a member of the Investment Committee. From 1995 to 1999, he worked at GCC Investments, a growth private equity firm based in Boston. Before GCC, he worked at Morgan Stanley Capital Partners. Bob has served on numerous private and public boards over time. He is currently a director of Blacksmith Applications, Contegix, SSB Data, Acendre, Rock Solid Technologies, and Trax. His former directorships include: Telecity Group, ViaWest, Doxim, and Intermedia. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the HMTF Center for Private Equity at McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin. Bob received an M.B.A. from Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.S.E. from Princeton University.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/bob-morse-3567595/
David Grayce
Board Member
Experienced private equity professional with 20 years of experience at two top-tier firms. Strong track record in institutional buyout, as well as earlier stage investing. Effective fundraiser, a known entity, trusted by LPs. Experienced distress turnaround manager. Many successes realizing strategic agenda from the Board across buyout, listed, start-up and government entity situations. Important roles and civic contributions across green energy policy, education and development. Versatile, innovative and adaptive team player. Stanford pedigree and law degree.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-grayce-61013714/
Otto Berkes
Board Member
Otto joined Acendre as CEO in 2019 after serving as one of the company’s Independent Directors. Previously, Otto was EVP and CTO at CA Technologies where he was responsible for Operation Tensor, a three-year, company-wide business transformation initiative aimed at shifting the majority of the company’s revenues to a subscription-based model. Prior to CA Technologies, Otto was the EVP and CTO for HBO where he spearheaded the company’s digital transformation and was responsible for the development of the HBO GO platform. Before joining HBO, Otto had an 18-year career at Microsoft where, in addition to co-founding Xbox, he drove groundbreaking hardware and software innovation in computer graphics, home entertainment, mobile devices, and cloud services. Otto received a BA in Physics with a minor in Music Performance from Middlebury College and an MS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont where he is currently a trustee. Otto also serves as an advisor to Airtime and CoLabs.
Mike Giuffrida
Board Member
Mike co-founded Acendre in 1997 and was appointed our CEO in 2002. Widely regarded as a Talent Acquisition and Talent Management thought leader, Mike was awarded the 2008 Victoria State Pearcey Award for his innovative and pioneering achievement and contribution to IT research and development.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/mikegiuffrida
Neil Willis
Board Member
Previously, Mr. Willis worked as a Vice President at GTCR, a Chicago-based private equity firm, where he focused on cybersecurity, information services and government services and defense investments. Prior to joining GTCR, he was an Associate at Clayton, Dubilier & Rice in New York and before that, worked at Morgan Stanley. Neil currently serves on the board of Acendre and previously served on the board of EaglePicher Technologies during his time at GTCR. Neil earned his B.A. in Economics from Dartmouth College where he graduated phi beta kappa with high-honors and his M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania where he graduated as a Palmer Scholar.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/neil-willis-71a7199/
Tom Tinsley
Board Member
Tom Tinsley retired as a Managing Director with General Atlantic LLC at the end of 2016 where he had served from 1999. Prior to that he was the CEO of Baan Company, NV (a General Atlantic portfolio company), and a Director at McKinsey & Company from 1978-1995. Mr. Tinsley has served on numerous public, private and non-profit boards. Currently, he is on the boards of 55ip and Bridgeway Capital Management, as well as Strattam Capital. Additionally, he is on the boards of Life Flight of Maine and the Island Institute of Maine. Mr. Tinsley earned an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Politics and Theology from the University of Notre Dame.
Acendre Executive Management
Otto Berkes
Chief Executive Officer
Otto joined Acendre as CEO in 2019 after serving as one of the company’s Independent Directors. Previously, Otto was EVP and CTO at CA Technologies where he was responsible for Operation Tensor, a three-year, company-wide business transformation initiative aimed at shifting the majority of the company’s revenues to a subscription-based model. Prior to CA Technologies, Otto was the EVP and CTO for HBO where he spearheaded the company’s digital transformation and was responsible for the development of the HBO GO platform. Before joining HBO, Otto had an 18-year career at Microsoft where, in addition to co-founding Xbox, he drove groundbreaking hardware and software innovation in computer graphics, home entertainment, mobile devices, and cloud services. Otto received a BA in Physics with a minor in Music Performance from Middlebury College and an MS in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering from the University of Vermont where he is currently a trustee. Otto also serves as an advisor to Airtime and CoLabs.
Liam Ackland
Managing Director — APAC
Joining Acendre in 2003, Liam has more than 15 years human capital technology experience. Instrumental in Acendre’s success through leading the Australian sales team, Liam next spent almost seven years in Washington, DC, introducing Acendre’s software solutions to the US federal market. Liam is now based in Melbourne, working with private and public sector organizations to deliver innovative talent management solutions.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/liamackland
Kristin Dabney
GLOBAL VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES
Joining Acendre in 2020, Kristin brings over two decades of business and HR experience leading global HR teams in high-growth private equity environments. Most recently at Community Brands, she supported 2,000+ employees across 42 states and 5 countries. Prior to that she was responsible for the people strategy at Primatics Financial (now SS&C Primatics) from start-up, through private equity investment and eventually strategic sale. Kristin holds a BBA from Oklahoma Baptist University, is a Newfield Certified Coach and has her CliftonStrengths® Coach certification from Gallup, Inc.
Leslie Stefanik
Vice President, Marketing
Joining Acendre in 2019, Leslie brings over 25 years of marketing experience in communications, branding and demand generation. She has a proven track record of results leading marketing organizations at PublicRelay, Optymyze and Deltek. Leslie holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration in Marketing from Youngstown State University.
Mac Mirchandani
Vice President, Global Product Management
Joining Acendre in 2019, Mac is a product management leader with 20 years of experience launching great software and information products, leading global product and go-to-market teams, and delivering results. He has significant experience in the strategy, build, launch and growth of SaaS and ML products enabling customers to make better use of information and drive to positive outcome.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/macmirch/
Scott Mitchell
Chief Financial Officer
Scott Mitchell has 25 years of experience spanning corporate finance, accounting, financial planning, and corporate development. He joined Acendre in 2020 from Community Brands, a software and payments solution provider for non-profits, most recently serving as Vice President of Finance. Prior to Community Brands, Scott held leadership positions in various roles at Verizon, Blackboard, comScore and WealthEngine. Before moving to the Finance side, Scott started his career with Ernst & Young as a CPA. He holds a BBA in Accounting from the College of William & Mary and lives in Ashburn, VA with his wife and two daughters.
Ed Gipple
Senior Vice President, Learning
Ed joined Acendre in 2019 as part of the ICS Learning Group acquisition. Ed has over 30 years of experience in corporate communications and training with a focus on eLearning and learning management system development. Ed is passionate about working with customers to help them create state-of-the-art training programs that engage and motivate their workforce while providing automation, tracking, and reporting to help manage and drive performance across the enterprise. Ed has a background in mechanical and electrical engineering, instructional design, multimedia design and production, and project management.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/edgipple/
Ben King
Client Experience Director
Ben joined Acendre in 2020, bringing more than 16 years experience working across many aspects of HR. He has worked in both the public and private sectors in Recruitment, Talent Management, OD, generalist HR and in HR software where he has spent the last 12 years consulting in, project managing and leading large multi-module HR tech projects.Prior to joining Acendre, Ben spent several years leading a successful HR consulting practice delivering technology implementations along with change and transformation. Ben has a Bachelor Degree in Psychology including Human Resource Management from Swinburne University, is passionate about people and applies this to both customer and the teams he works in.
Mike Giuffrida
Executive Chairman, Board
Mike co-founded Acendre in 1997 and was appointed our CEO in 2002. Widely regarded as a Talent Acquisition and Talent Management thought leader, Mike was awarded the 2008 Victoria State Pearcey Award for his innovative and pioneering achievement and contribution to IT research and development.
Wayne Fitzimmons
Non-Executive Director, Board
Wayne has been a non-executive member of the Acendre board since 2003. He is also the chairman of the Pearcey Foundation, which promotes the Information Communications Technology (ICT) industry in Australia, and sits on the board of four early-stage ICT companies. His latest software startup, Xperior, was launched in 2016. Wayne is also a board member of several Australian technology companies. Previously, Wayne has worked for several publicly-traded technology companies, including Fairchild Semiconductor, Data General and Banyan Systems.
Pamela Little
Advisory Board Member
Pamela is a board member and Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Director at MTSI. She has 30 years of experience helping privately-held start up high technology firms to large publicly-traded multi-national professional services and government contracting firms improve operations, improve growth and maximize profits through operational and financial management, cost reductions, internal controls and productivity efficiency improvements. She has an extensive track record in developing strong results-oriented management teams, and significant experience serving on boards of both public and private companies.
Chris Tully
Advisory Board Member
Chris is founder and President of Lock & Coldspring LLC, a sales consulting firm focused on dramatically growing its customers’ top line revenue. As an outsourced Chief Sales Officer, Chris helps businesses achieve breakthrough sales growth, discipline, and accountability. Chris brings 25-plus years of leading sales and customer service organizations ranging in size from 10 people to over 400 people, with revenues from $5M to over $1B. He has held senior sales leadership positions with several private and public companies, including Xerox, Dell, GTSI, Costar, GeoEye, DigitalGlobe and Intelsat.
Sudeep Dharan
Chief Strategy and Technology Officer
Sudeep joined Acendre in 2015. He is responsible for all technology, SaaS operations and product management functions in the company. He is an exceptionally skilled executive; seasoned and tenured in the technology industry. Having worked in organizations ranging from the Fortune 500 companies to industry-disrupting start-ups with multiple exits, his wealth of experience will be invaluable for Acendre’s continued growth.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sudeepdharan
Paul De Bono
Principal, Client Success Manager
Paul joined Acendre in 2015 and leads the company’s Client Success team in the APAC region, ensuring Acendre exceeds customer’s expectations in solving their workforce performance challenges. Paul brings strong commercial experience in team building, project management, client relationship management and business development. Prior to Acendre, Paul held leadership positions with Aon, Automatic Data Processing and Spherion.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-de-bono
