CFO Associates
Patrick Duff
Patrick Duff comes to CFO Selections with over 15 years of experience as a CFO for a variety of industries and companies in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors. His areas of expertise include finance, financial and cost accounting, operations, IT implementations, and planning and analysis. His nonprofit experience includes five years as CFO of Goodwill Industries in Boston, where he supported retail growth of 40% over two years and completed a complex Tax Credit financing for $13M.
Patrick is a Certified Management Accountant and holds an MBA from the University of Western Ontario – Ivey School of Business and a Bachelor of Engineering from McGill University. He has served on the Boards of the Eastside District YMCA (eight years as chair of the finance committee), Bellevue Rotary, and the Washington Chapter of Financial Executives International.
Tammy Helgeson
Tammy is a proven financial professional with extensive experience focused on helping nonprofit organizations grow and thrive. She is skilled at quickly evaluating the existing processes and staff in an organization, and providing both practical suggestions for change and ongoing, hands-on help as needed. Prior to joining CFO Selections, Tammy spent 15 years successfully building a consulting practice in accounting and financial management for clients ranging from small operating nonprofits to large ($95M) charitable endowments. She has directed all aspects of accounting operations at both for-profit and nonprofit entities, including management of accounting departments and all accounting functions, reporting, budgeting, grant reporting and compliance, payout planning, investment and endowment reporting, direct and indirect expense allocations, and communication with executive management and audit/finance committees. Assignments have included selection and conversion of accounting systems, assistance in hiring and training of staff, design and implementation of accounting procedures for newly formed organizations, and improvement of existing accounting systems. Tammy also has experience with coordination of all federal and state tax filings (990, 990PF, 990-T, and federal excise taxes).
Tammy holds a BA in accounting from the University of Washington and has previously been a CPA. She lives with her family in Sammamish and enjoys skiing, hiking, and traveling.
Bill Palmer
Bill Palmer has experience with the finances of nonprofits from multiple perspectives. For more than two years, he has acted as CFO at a local children's charity, where he oversees the accounting staff and also assists the executive director in budgeting and long range planning to support capacity building. Bill spent ten years on the governing board of a private school, where he led the financial planning, led a capital campaign which successfully raised $1.5 million from private donors, negotiated long term loans, and set pricing policies. He has also successfully performed as acting CFO for companies in a wide range of for-profit industries, including software development, commercial real estate, construction, equipment distribution and service, and retail. As Chair of the CFO Selections foundation, he leads the Board as they review grant applicants and oversees disbursement of funds and reporting from grantees.
Bill holds an MBA from Seattle University, a BBAd from Gonzaga University, and is a graduate of the Pacific Coast Banking School. He has been involved in his community as Chair of the Finance and Development Committees at his church and as Treasurer of the Newport Yacht Club; he currently serves as the Vice President of his Homeowners Association.
Jane Repensek
Jane has 25 years of experience in finance and accounting in a variety of industries including financial services, nonprofits, communications, and manufacturing. She is a seasoned leader who can expertly steer an organization to meet its goals while preserving trust, integrity, and efficiency. Prior to joining CFO Selections, Jane was the Vice President of Finance and Administration at Special Olympics Washington and was responsible for accounting, finance, risk management, IT, HR, and administration. During her tenure, she successfully updated internal controls and the entire reporting platform, conducted an IT audit and mapped a path to the "cloud," redesigned the treasury function, revamped restricted asset procedures, and completed an operating reserves analysis. For twelve prior years, she was Vice President at banks in Seattle, New York, and Chicago and held various positions in treasury investment management, capital markets, and corporate lending.
Jane has an MBA in finance from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science in accounting from Marquette University. She is a CPA in the states of Washington and Wisconsin and serves her Puget Sound community through participation on various boards.
Amy Romer
Amy has 15 years of experience managing and consulting in various non profit and for profit organizations. Amy has built teams to ensure compliance and excellence in reporting in the areas of Board/Audit Committee support, Grants, Budgeting, Treasury Management, HR, Development, and External Communications. She can assist with Federal (990) reporting and audits, and is well versed in the special compliance requirements for publicly-funded organizations, including A-122 and A-133 requirements, and NIH and USAid compliance. Before joining CFO Selections, she was Senior Director of Finance at the Allen Institute for Brain Science, where she was responsible for IT, Purchasing, and Finance. She currently works as the senior finance manager for several nonprofits, including Seattle Mountaineers, Akeso, and Village Reach.
Amy is a CPA, holds a BA in accounting from Florida Atlantic University, and serves on the boards of the Seattle Red Cross, Village Theatre, and AJC.
Richard Salitra
Richard Salitra is a senior financial executive and leader with well-rounded experience in finance, accounting operations, and general management in a breadth of industries. He has extensive operational experience in building the finance and administrative functions to support the rapid growth of small to mid-size organizations.
Richard's leadership accomplishments range from improving the effectiveness of the Finance function and turning around underperforming Accounting departments to positioning his organizations for future growth. He has created and managed numerous initiatives to lower costs and improve operations. Richard is well-versed in working with management on fund-raising and liquidity issues, budgeting and forecasting, financial analysis and modeling, contract negotiation, and process/reporting improvements.
Prior to joining CFO Selections, Richard held senior financial positions in a variety of companies in the high tech, service, property management, and financial services industries. Richard is currently the CFO of the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI), a Seattle-based non-profit medical research organization. As part of his responsibilities, Richard is experienced with Federal grant compliance, indirect allocation issues, and non-profit specific taxation.
Richard received his MBA from Seattle University. He also holds a BS in Accounting and Finance and a BA in Economics, both from the University of Colorado. He is a Washington State CPA (inactive).
