Our Leadership Team
Fred Stiftel
Chief Executive Officer
For nearly three decades Fred Stiftel has assisted clients in enhancing their company's profitability. Prior to founding WMS in 1981, Mr. Stiftel was Vice President at a leading NYSE traded services firm, where he developed the entire Human Resource service function. Following this, he became Executive Vice President for a leading HR business outsourcing company, where he implemented programs to create profitable HR divisions. An alumnus of a Big Four firm, Mr. Stiftel provided senior consulting services to clients in the areas of personnel planning and organizational development, executive compensation planning, and workforce development.
Phil Ownbey
President
Leveraging over 25 years in the tax credit consulting services industry, Mr. Ownbey brings strategic oversight, vision, and direction to WMS. Immediately prior to joining WMS, Mr. Ownbey served as an executive for First Advantage, overseeing the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program services, client services, lobbying, and innovations. As owner and president of The Alameda Company, he grew the company from a hiring-based incentives firm to a full service tax credit and incentives provider. Ownbey also owned and developed vineyard and subdivision projects in California for over a decade. Mr. Ownbey holds a Bachelor’s from the University of Virginia.
David Garcia
Director, Marketing & Partnership Support
David Garcia serves as Director of Marketing and Partnership Support for Walton Management Services. In his role, David oversees all marketing initiatives for Walton while developing Walton’s best-in-class strategic partnership ecosystem. Prior to joining Walton, David spent nearly twelve years at First Advantage, serving in various capacities. Most recently David served as Vice-President of Business Development for their tax consulting services, where he built and led a sales team to develop sales pipeline to drive top growth. Prior to that, David built and led a world-class account management team for First Advantage.
Meg Makofsky
Director of WOTC Government Affairs
Meg Makofsky has thirty years of experience in Federal and State tax credits and incentives at Walton Management Services. Over the years, she has been instrumental in designing the reporting procedures for Walton’s Federal Tax Credit Services from TJTC to WOTC, and also the HIRE Act. Also, her many years of experience in this field and working constantly with WOTC state coordinators, she has built a very positive working relationship between Walton and the states. Ms. Makofsky received a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University in Human Resources and Development, with a minor in mathematics and accounting.
Brian DeVido
National Director of Business Development
Mr. DeVido holds over 17 years experience in consultative sales. He works directly with WMS clientele in analyzing and growing their financial portfolios. Prior experience of Mr. DeVido includes the supervision of recruitment and staffing services, as well as driving the sales of Fortune 50 corporations in a variety of industry sectors including: financial services, technology and logistics. Mr. DeVido holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington, and a Bachelor of Arts from Virginia Tech. He is the author of the novel, "Every Time I Talk to Liston," published in 2004, which received rave reviews from the New York Times Book Review.
Jennifer Backer
Director, Client Services
Jennifer joined the Walton team in 2016. As the leader of our Client Services Team, Jennifer provides innovative strategic support and guidance to our Account Management team. Prior to joining Walton, Jennifer served as an Implementation Lead for Ernst & Young’s Tax practice for several years and has also served as an Account Executive with the Tax Consulting division of First Advantage where she partnered with clients to take full advantage of their Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) program. Jennifer earned a BA from Indiana University, and an MBA at Indiana Institute of Technology.
Mike Dietterick
Director of Product Development
Mr. Dietterick leverages over a dozen years of business intelligence, product management, and data analytics to retain WMS’s position as a leader in the next generation of business analytics, data mining and reporting, and new services in the tax credit and incentives industry. Prior to joining WMS, Mr. Dietterick worked as product manager and innovation manager for First Advantage, guiding and assisting to establish the strategy, innovation, and marketing plans for all current and future products in the tax and incentives lines of business. Before moving to innovations and product management positions, Mr. Dietterick specialized in geographic information systems and big data at such firms as First Advantage and ADP.
