Trudy McCrea is the CEO at Achieve-it. She has a powerful blend of IT industry experience, business acumen, and a passion for helping to match great candidates with great companies. Trudy has helped many clients succeed with their business goals. Her approach integrates best practices, witnessed firsthand in the Fortune 500, specifically from her tenure at IBM and Microsoft. Trudy spent twelve years at IBM where she worked in sales, management and special staff assignments. At Microsoft over a five year period of record sales for corporate accounts, she exceeded revenue growth targets and helped to establish new policies in sales management and customer service.
Trudy's business foundation was built in engineering, sales, and management positions, giving her the background necessary to advise, hire and coach, at all levels. Her work included a variety of technology projects: early product releases, mission critical software development, information assurance systems, and international solution roll outs, encompassing hardware, software and professional services. Trudy received an MBA in Marketing and Finance from the University of Connecticut and a B.S. from Penn State University. She is certified by the Center for Creative Leadership and is a member of the International Coaches Federation. She is active in Women in Technology and Opportunity International, a microfinance non-profit. Trudy is a frequent guest speaker and author of leadership and sales articles.
Trudy is a frequent guest speaker and author of leadership and sales articles.
John McCrea is Achieve-it's President and a Board Member since January of 2008. John has a proven track record as a General Manager in the Computer Consulting Business. He has been the successful GM of two start-ups: founder and General Manager of a highly profitable technology consulting practice, growing it to more than $50 million in annual sales. More recently, he was the GM of a privately held staffing firm and grew it from $1.1 Million to $8 Million in less than 2 years. Overall, John has a 15 years proven track record in both top and bottom line growth as a General Manager, and over 20+ years in information technology . Over his career, he has had direct involvement and oversight in the hiring of thousands of IT, Accounting and Finance, and Procurement consultants. He has had ultimate responsibility for client satisfaction in over 700 million dollars of consulting services over his career. Additionally, John has personally made hundreds of permanent placements, both retained and contingency arrangements, in the IT and Accounting and Finance verticals in commercial and government arenas.
Steve Shollenberger joined Achieve-it in 2007 as the CFO/COO. Over the last two decades, Steve has held several key positions in the DC area utilizing his strong accounting and IT background. Coming from EFT Technologies (President) and Mortgage Capital Group (CFO), Steve also brings merger and acquisition experience to our consulting practice. We will be leading our Accounting/Finance practice in addition to his CFO duties.
Steve is a versatile, dynamic Executive Officer providing decisive leadership, management and guidance. With expert hands-on experience he is a visionary and strategic planner in leading, directing, advancing and evaluating overall strategic and tactical planning. Steve has superior interpersonal skills, and is capable of resolving complex (sales, human resource, legal, financial, operational) issues and motivating staff to peak performance.
Areas of expertise include:
- Accounting Systems Development
- P&L Management
- Contract Negotiations & Strategic Alliances
- Bank Negotiations & Relations
- Electronic Payment Processing
- Merger and Acquisition Negotiations
Valerie Shollenberger is our Chief Human Resource Officer and Board Member. Valerier has more than ten years of Operations and Human Resources experience. Valerie has expertise in operations, employee recruitment and retention, compensation and benefits, budget administration, reporting, development and training. Her key positions included five years at GTE Government Systems and more recently with EFT Technologies.
Caron Ward is an Achieve-it Board Member. Caron is a Senior Project Manager at LMI, where she focuses on federal IT strategy. Caron is a Wharton graduate and has extensive experience in the DOD and civilian agencies that she lends to our business planning. Caron has managed international projects and projects with teams of up to 80 consultants and values in excess of $60 million. She was a Consulting Practice Manager at IBM, Bethesda in the 1980s and 1990s.
