Meet Our Management Team
| Craig S. Nelson | Michael J. Bowcut | ||
| Anna Nogueiro | Courtney Dickson | ||
| Eric Edelstein | Sara Boyd | ||
| Tony Bartenetti | Melanie Quandt | ||
| Jeff Phelps | Gary D. Nelson |
Craig S. Nelson – Chief Executive Officer
Craig S. Nelson joined Nelson in 2001 as General Counsel with responsibility for legal, administration, safety & risk, and human resources. Eventually, three professional staffing units—Nelson Technology, Nelson & Associates and Nelson Staffing—were added to his list of responsibilities. In 2006, Craig relinquished his corporate duties to take charge of both Nelsonjobs.com and the Recruiting & Retention team while continuing to lead the staffing units. When Gary Nelson stepped down as Chairman of the Board, Craig accepted responsibility as CEO of the company in January, 2012. Highly involved in the community and participating on several boards, Craig follows the family tradition of giving back. He is on the board of the Marin Economic Forum and the executive board of the North Bay Leadership Council; he was the Chair of the Executive Leadership Committee of the 2011 North Bay Heart Walk; and he is the past Chairman of the Marin County Workforce Investment Board. Prior to joining Nelson, Craig spent seven years with the Criminal Division of the California Department of Justice and before that, three years as a litigator with the Law Offices of Bowles and Verna. Craig has a Masters of Law from the University of San Diego, his Juris Doctor from Hastings College of Law, and degrees in Business Administration and Economics from California State University, Chico. He was admitted to the State Bar of California in 1990.
Michael J. Bowcut – Chief Financial Officer
As the Chief Financial Officer for Nelson, Michael Bowcut offers strategic financial oversight for all arms of the organization. An expert in Finance and Accounting in domestic and international service, retail, and franchise environments, Bowcut has been successfully directing firms for 30 years. Before coming to Nelson in 2008 as Controller, he served as Controller at Golden Gate Petroleum, one of the largest petroleum distributors in Northern California and Nevada. Other than some years spent as CFO at Artis, Inc., a television production company, Michael’s early business focus was food and grocery related, holding positions such as Controller at Andronico’s Markets, COO for Hodge Food Services, CFO for Provigo Corp, and Controller for Quik Stop Markets. An active member in his community, Michael served on the Community Advisory Committee to the Cotati Rohnert Park Unified School District and continues to take part in school district affairs. He is a Certified Managerial Accountant with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Brigham Young University and a Master of Business Administration from California State University East Bay.
Anna Nogueiro – Director of Human Resources
Anna Nogueiro started with Nelson in 1990 as a recruiter. After 14 years of working as a recruiter, she turned her attention to training, and worked as a Trainer for almost four years. In 2007, Nogueiro was promoted to Business Systems Manager, and in 2010, she became Director of Operations. In 2011, the company had a need for an HR Director, and knew Anna was the perfect person to fit the bill, given her understanding of the company as a whole and the positive relationships she’d built over the years with fellow employees. Nogueiro has a BS in Human Resources from the University of San Francisco, and currently resides in Mill Valley.
Courtney Dickson – Vice President of Marketing & Strategic Alliances
Courtney Dickson joined the Nelson in June of 2007, bringing experience in marketing, internal and external business development, and operations across a variety of industries. In her role as Vice President of Marketing and Strategic Alliances, Courtney develops a wide range of marketing and public relations activities for the company’s business divisions, creating internal and external communications and campaigns. She also reviews strategic partnerships and manages the organization’s corporate recruiting strategy and vendor relationships. Prior to joining Nelson, Courtney handled business development and marketing for Gilardi & Co. LLC, was an Associate Producer at Groove Eleven, and served as Marketing & Operations Manager for Wattage Monitor. She has a BA in Political Science and History from the University of California, Berkeley.
Eric Edelstein – Chief Information Officer
Eric Edelstein holds a Ph.D. in mathematics with a doctoral minor in quantum physics. Early on in his career, Edelstein worked in the field of math, but software development captured his imagination and he turned his attention there. Eric draws on a distinguished application development track record with industry leaders including Bachmann, Fidelity Investments, Aetna Insurance and Varian Semiconductor, where he served as a principal architect in designing the first real-time remote DCOM control system. Upon moving to the Silicon Valley in Northern California, Edelstein shifted his focus to the HR industry. Since that time, he has served as principal architect of HRhome and has developed customized timekeeping systems, job boards and integrated VMS systems. Eric is also the founder and president of YiddishLives.com, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving life stories in Yiddish.
Sara Boyd – Senior Vice President, Nelson & Associates
Sara Boyd joined the Nelson in 2002. She manages operations and sales for Nelson & Associates, the business division that specializes in recruiting all levels of professionals in finance and accounting, including executives and senior consultants.
Before joining Nelson & Associates, Sara spent 12 years working for a large international Accounting & Finance staffing firm where she took her business from revenues of $1.5 million to $40 million. Her effective hiring and retention efforts ultimately helped under-performing branches achieve the “Number One in Profitability” and “Branch of the Year” spots among a playing field of 80-100 branch locations. Sara earned her BA at the University of Colorado.
Tony Bartenetti – Senior Vice President, Nelson Staffing
Tony Bartenetti joined Nelson in May of 1998 as South Bay Regional Sales Manager. After just six months, he was promoted to Regional Vice President of three Nelson Staffing branches, and he was appointed Vice President of the Southern Region in 2002. In 2006, Tony was promoted to Senior Vice President of the Nelson Staffing division. During his tenure, Tony has been recognized with two Gary D. Nelson Leadership Awards for his outstanding strength in leadership and management.
Prior to joining Nelson, Tony spent 13 years in the home health care industry with the companies that make up Apria Healthcare. At the time he left Apria to join Nelson, Tony was Regional Sales Manager for a $68 million territory and managed 18 sales representatives in a four-state region. He received their National Leadership Award in 1996. Tony has a B.S. in Business Administration from University of San Francisco.
Melanie Quandt – Vice President, Nelson Technology
Melanie started her illustrious career in the technical staffing industry in 1997. At Hall Kinion, she was regularly a top five Bay Area recruiter. A move to Spherion found her, within one year, capturing the title of #1 Recruiter in the Northwest region. Melanie next went to IT Ascent as a Recruiting Manager where she managed inside sales and recruiting delivery for Genentech, Wells Fargo, Blue Shield, Google, Yahoo and Salesforce.com (gaining #1 vendor status at Yahoo and Google). She also successfully trained, staffed, and opened off-shore recruiting operations. After accepting a position as Regional Director of the West Coast for TalentBurst, she attained #1 vendor status at Salesforce.com and Yahoo within two years. As Nelson Technology’s Director, Melanie leads by example, ever pushing for better results.
Jeff Phelps – Chief Operating Officer, iWorkGlobal
With over 30 years of experience, Jeff is a recognized industry expert in contingent workforce management solutions. His client experience spans virtually every market segment and includes Fortune 500 companies as well as regional firms. As the COO of iWorkGlobal, Phelps is responsible for operations, client services, compliance, risk management, and corporate support. Prior to going to work for iWorkGlobal, Jeff held various executive-level positions in general management, human resources, compliance & risk management, business development, and client services with AT&T, WorkforceLogic, ABE Services, Secure Talent, and Nelson.
Gary D. Nelson – Founder
With a wealth of experience in all aspects of the human resources industry, Gary Nelson is considered an expert in the talent management business. He continues to explore new avenues for providing value to clients and for maintaining the standing of the Nelson Family as a clear leader in the workforce management and human capital industry.
Gary’s keen grasp of prevailing economic and business trends has enabled him to lead the company to its position as Northern California’s top independent talent acquisition firm and one of the 50 largest staffing companies in the United States. A graduate of San Jose State University with advanced work in industrial relations, Gary had 10 years of experience in human resources before founding the Nelson Family of Companies in 1970. Prior to that time, he was associated with Data Technology Corporation, Fairchild Semiconductor, American Optical Corporations’ Analytical Instrument Division, Marin General Hospital and the California State Personnel Board.
In his local community, Gary is recognized as an outspoken advocate for healthcare and education. As a community activist and philanthropist, he has spearheaded efforts to open and support public charter schools. Gary was also a leader in developing Sonoma’s “Field of Dreams” project to create a major youth baseball and soccer complex. He and his wife established the Gary and Marcia Nelson Community Care Fund and Endowment in support of emergency room services in Sonoma Valley.
