Our People
"There is a reason they call it search; no one has contacted us with an easy position and a long timeframe."
David Magy has a knack for matching people to jobs. He does it with insight into what makes an effective match between culture and skill. Over the past 20 years he has earned the reputation as an expert in the field of retained search, corporate recruitment and workforce consulting. David is a leader in small search firm forums and is a nationally recognized speaker in corporate, university and professional settings. Favorite topics include retained search, staffing and ethics. He has worked extensively with human resource staffing system design from both the corporate and consulting perspectives. David's wide professional network from diverse areas, provide an invaluable resource to our clients. David is known as a "connector" as described in Malcolm Gladwell's well known book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference.
David's professional background includes 12 years in the retained search field as a principal with Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates and seven years of workforce management consulting experience as Executive Vice President of Career Dynamics, Inc (now Right Management Consulting). In addition he has a decade of experience working within the human resource departments of three Minnesota corporations; Pillsbury, Honeywell and Farm Credit Services of Saint Paul.
David is a leader in the International Association for Corporate & Professional Recruitment (IACPR) www.iacpr.org and an active member of their Small Search Firm Forum (SSF), also serving on their planning and steering committee. He is a long-standing member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) www.shrm.org, the Twin Cities Human Resource Association (TCHRA) www.tchra.org, Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota (HRPM) www.hrpmn.org and the HR Executive Forum, www.hrexecutiveforum.org.
David holds a Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Psychology, with concentrations in Organizational Psychology, Communications and Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. He has completed additional coursework in staffing, training, and career development.
David is very active in the community, working as a "friend of the board" within three non-profit organizations doing natural disaster cleanup, special projects, and working with youth camps. He is married to a fire fighter and has three children. David enjoys many hobbies and pursuits including martial arts and motorcycles.
"I have developed successful partnering relationships with hundreds of business clients in the Minneapolis/Saint Paul area over the past 20 years. My knowledge of human talent helps clients effectively apply that talent in a wide range of business settings."
Rick has successfully built partnerships with Twin City businesses from the smallest entrepreneurial niche business to the largest multinational corporation; all sizes, all sectors. This partnership for Rick means active listening, responsive and effective communication, approaching the work with humility and respect for the client organization and a dogged persistence for finding the "right" candidate. Rick is efficient in reaching out to candidates at the most senior level of organizations, an audience that can be insulated within corporate environments. He particularly understands the sales and operations role that has a direct interface with the customer. Over his tenure as an executive recruiter he has placed hundreds of professionals who have added long term value to their organizations.
Rick has exceptional insight into navigating and managing customer relationships learned and mastered during his years in business management and consulting. Rick's background includes key leadership roles in several Twin Cities based organizations. Rick served for seven years as President of Doherty Employment Group, a $125 million employer services company which delivers staffing, human resources, payroll processing, employee benefits and risk management services to over 400 companies. Subsequently he was a Managing Consultant with James Bissonett & Associates, Inc., one of the leading employee benefit consulting firms in Minnesota. Rick's background also includes several years as a Vice President of a national distributor of music, video and personal computer software, where he developed, implemented and managed turnkey entertainment software departments for major national retailers such as Target, Wal-Mart, and Sears. Rick joined Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates in January, 2003.
Rick is a graduate of Moorhead State University and holds a Bachelor' s Degree in Political Science.
Rick, a Red River Valley native, prefers the wide open spaces and is an enthusiastic traveler; relishing in the trip itself and the planning process. Lately, he has added international mission trips on his travel schedule. He also enjoys walking, playing tennis and spending time with his family.
"Hiring an employee is easy. If only it were that simple. Capturing the essence of a key position within the context of the organization and successfully placing the best candidate that exists in the marketplace into that position is what we do. And we do it well."
Ken's unique combination of Finance, Accounting, Career Management Consulting, and Teaching experience provides our clients and candidates with valuable expertise in effectively matching the tangible, as well as the intangible qualities of candidates to the position requirements of our clients, resulting in the "fit" that will be the cornerstone of a lasting and productive employment relationship. Ken's career as a successful entrepreneur, educator, business executive, and consultant is the foundation for networking and sourcing capabilities that are very effective for our clients.
Prior to co-founding Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates in 1996, Ken achieved success as an entrepreneur in co-founding and building Career Dynamics, Inc., a Career Management and Performance Consulting firm, and AAD & K, Inc., a Vocational Rehabilitation Consulting firm. Both companies continue to be leaders in their respective fields. Prior to these endeavors, Ken served four years as Vice President of Finance of a middle market diversified corporation with manufacturing and service subsidiaries, and several years, as a consultant with Deloitte & Touche, one of the "Big 4" Public Accounting and Consulting firms, where he was also active in Staffing and College Recruiting.
Ken is a licensed (inactive) Certified Public Accountant and a Certified Financial Planner. He holds a M.B.A., as well as an M.S. Degree in Vocational Counseling from St. Cloud State University, and has completed coursework toward a Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in Business Education and Entrepreneurship. His Bachelors Degree is in Social Science. He has taught a number of Business and Career Management courses at the University of Minnesota, St. Cloud State University's Graduate School, Concordia College and Normandale Community College.
Ken enjoys a variety of activities. A lifelong learner, he is a student of history at the university level, and enjoys genealogical research and reading. He has restored several classic automobiles and is active in classic automobile organizations. He plays the saxophone in a community band. Among his other pursuits are running, gardening, and motorcycling.
"I am motivated by seeking out hard-to-find, hidden talent. My determination and tenacity serve me well in the process."
Christi, with her unique combination of specialized knowledge in the fields of recruitment strategy and the technological tools available in research, helps our firm conduct efficient and successful searches. Not only does she know how to conduct the search, she is adept at understanding clients' needs and assessing talent to match their strategic goals.
Christi has gained national recognition for her expertise in employment market research and utilizing technology in the recruiting process, bringing a methodology and structured approach to research. She has developed and presented workshops on these topics locally and nationally. With her active involvement in over 500 searches, she is able to access the most qualified candidates from a wide variety of resources.
Christi has been a Search Consultant with Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates since 1997 and continues to build on her professional experience as a successful corporate recruiter. She started her professional career 20 years ago at Andcor Human Resources as an Account Executive, and subsequently spent three years as the Director, Information Resources for Career Dynamics, Inc., a career management and outplacement consulting firm.
Christi likes to use her investigative skills to uncover the market potential to fulfill the clients' requirements to achieve long term success. Some of the challenges Christi especially likes to take on are unique, precision searches within academia, human resources, and individual contributor roles.
Christi received her degree in Small Business Management and has undertaken additional coursework in Business Law and Economics.
She resides in Minneapolis with her husband, two children, and two Airedales. She enjoys a physically active lifestyle. She serves the community through her involvement in service activities through her church.
"When meeting with clients it is our role to really listen for those cues that lead us to qualified candidates. These cues also tell us what resources will bring the best results."
Mary Lee's Human Resources background, combined with her breadth of industry experience, provides valuable insight to sourcing candidates and managing the search process for our clients. Mary Lee uses a variety of resources at the beginning of a search, casting a wide net. She is able to quickly narrow the field of viable candidates drawing from her onsite experience in the workplace and staying current with the technological resources and tools that are constantly changing.
Mary Lee spent 10 years in retained search and prior to this experience, seven years as a career and outplacement consultant. Mary Lee has held human resources positions in several industries including government, insurance, manufacturing, and distribution where she was responsible for recruitment, staffing and administration. Mary Lee is able to look at search through the candidate's eyes. She draws from her business perspective and understands what it takes to work in a variety of industry sectors; her special interest being sales and marketing, manufacturing, distribution, retail and healthcare. Mary Lee joined Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates in 1999 after serving as a consultant with Career Dynamics, Inc. where she applied her employment knowledge and staffing expertise to assist clients with workforce management.
Mary Lee received her Bachelor's Degree in Organizational Development from Concordia College, Saint Paul, and has completed courses toward a Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology.
Mary Lee lives in Eden Prairie with her husband and two daughters. In addition to being a soccer mom, she continues to hone her Spanish language skills to more fully enhance her travels and interest in the Latino Community and South American culture.
"I bring curiosity, creative problem solving techniques and a desire to provide professional, timely and accurate information to my team at Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates and our clients."
Debra combines investigative research skills with a broad knowledge of business to collaborate with her associates in developing qualified candidate pools. She uses a variety of research tools to conduct market intelligence as well as develop research strategy to identify appropriate candidates for our clients.
Prior to joining Abeln, Magy, Underberg & Associates in 2005, Debra worked with NSP as an Administrator of Regulatory Compliance, Land Use Planner, and Economic Development Consultant. Within these roles she has developed project management expertise, created targeted marketing and business retention programs and identified resources to offer businesses to ensure their growth and success. Now she brings these skills to the human resource component of business.
Debra holds a Bachleor of Arts degree in Geography from Gustavus Adolphus College.
Debra likes reading, creative writing, yoga, cooking and walking the family dog. She makes time to help with community projects surrounding literacy and nutrition. Debra and her husband live in Plymouth and enjoy spending time with their three children.