Meet Our
Leadership Team
Frankie Francese, CPA, CMA, MBA
Managing Partner
Category: Leadership Team
Frankie is the Managing Partner of Fortis Consulting Group LLC. Frankie graduated from Rutgers College – School of Business, magna cum laude, with a BS degree in accounting. Frankie continued his education at Monmouth University, where he graduated at the top of his MBA class. Upon graduation from Rutgers, he joined the international public accounting firm of Deloitte & Touche LLP where he performed the audit function for a variety of clients. In addition, while at Deloitte & Touche, Frankie was the chairperson of the On-campus Recruiting Committee and Mentor Committee from which he gained valuable recruiting experience.
Since 1996, Frankie has focused his career on assisting others in their accounting and finance careers. While employed by the firm, Rylan Forbes, Frankie became the director of all permanent recruiting operations in NJ. In this role, he was responsible for the selection, training and supervision of over 20 recruiters in three offices. In 2000, Frankie cofounded Fortis Consulting Group LLC with former Deloitte & Touche coworker Remi Pauwels.
In addition to his recruiting experience, Frankie was a nationally acclaimed instructor with the Becker Conviser Fox Review course where he taught since 1994. Frankie is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive) and a Certified Management Accountant. He is a member of the Institute for Management Accountants, the American Institute for CPAs and the New Jersey Society of CPAs.
Remi C. Pauwels, CPA
Partner
Category: Leadership Team
Remi is one of the two Partners at Fortis Consulting Group, LLC. Remi graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in accounting. At Michigan State, Remi was a three-time varsity letter winner in lacrosse as well as a three time academic all-Big Ten Award winner. After graduating MSU, Remi joined the audit group at Deloitte & Touche. While at D&T, Remi became a CPA and worked with some of the firm’s largest clients. He was also part of D&T’s mentor program and helped recruit some of the top college graduates in the area.
Since leaving D&T, Remi has assisted thousands of professionals as an accounting and finance recruiter. Remi started his career with Acsys Inc. His first year he was awarded the National Rookie Recruiter of the Year Award. Remi went on to become one of the firm’s top performers and work with some of the top companies in the NY/NJ area.
In 2000, Remi cofounded Fortis Consulting Group LLC with mentor and good friend, Frankie Francese.
David Cairns
Director of Permanent Placement
Category: Management Team
David Cairns is the Director of Permanent Placement with Fortis Consulting Group LLC. Upon graduating from Saint Joseph’s University in 2000 with a BS in finance, he began his career with the world’s largest brokerage firm, Merrill Lynch. David spent five years with Merrill Lynch working his way up the corporate ladder performing mutual fund accounting duties. He worked with large 401(k) companies, processing and reconciling all mutual funds for some of Merrill’s largest clients, and was responsible for millions of dollars of monthly business. From there, he moved to Smith Barney where he continued to develop his understanding of the accounting and finance industries. He spent his time at Smith Barney learning more about corporate finance as a financial advisor for one of the largest wealth management companies in the industry. During his tenure with these companies, David gained valuable experience in understanding the different positions within the business world and how to succeed at each. This experience, along with his desire to help others, made him decide to utilize his skills to assist other accounting andfinance professionals.
David’s knowledge and experiences regarding the many positions within the accounting and finance functions have made him a consistent top performer within the recruiting industry. He strives to offer his clients exceptional service in building their accounting and finance departments, as well as providing outstanding career paths for the candidates whom he represents. David has always exceeded the expectations of his candidates and clients.
If you are looking for a reliable and dedicated recruiter, contact David to see the difference he can make.
Damon Monteferrante
Director of Temporary Services
Category: Management Team
Damon Monteferrante is the Director of Temporary Services at Fortis Consulting Group, LLC. Damon Graduated from State University College at Oneonta NY, with a B.S. in business economics. After graduating, Damon started his business career with Ciba-Geigy Corporation. During his seven-year career he worked his way up through the Credit and Financial Service departments and played a key role in the corporate spin-off of Ciba Specialty Chemicals. Damon was exposed to many areas of accounting, finance and was project manager for many key initiatives. Using his experience, he took a position in accounting and financial recruiting, where he worked for a national recruiting firm. He rose quickly to become director of the Temporary Division in just over a year and was one of the top temporary recruiters on the East Coast. Since joining Fortis Consulting Group LLC, his work ethic, professionalism and integrity have been an important part of Fortis’ growing business. Damon has consistently been one of Fortis’ top producers, and he is committed to providing clients and candidates with the excellent service they deserve.
Greg LaVanture
Manager of Recruiting
Category: Management Team
Greg joined Fortis Consulting Group in January of 2011. As a Recruiting Manager, Greg enjoys the interpersonal aspects of keeping in touch with individuals throughout the evolution of their careers. Learning a person’s preferences both personally and professionally over time helps him to assist them in finding the job which makes the most sense for them at every step of their career.
Additionally, Greg attends various networking events to keep informed of industry trends and meet face-to-face those with whom he works on an ongoing basis – both as clients and candidates.
Greg graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in communications. Prior to joining Fortis, he worked as a representative for a world leader in business, legal and financial services where he was able to manage domain names for both Fortune 500 companies as well as start-ups.
Outside the office, Greg enjoys music, traveling, playing and watching all sports, and spending time with his family and friends