Jennifer Hannigan, CPA
Founder & CEO
Jennifer founded Alliance Resource Group in 2003 after four years as a consistent top five performer for a prominent national staffing agency. Jennifer’s vision was to take the best of both contingent and retained search firms and merge them into a single platform. ARG represents this vision with the high touch, highly consultative approach of the retained industry coupled with the sense of urgency and extensive and broad network of a contingent firm. Born and raised in San Diego, her claim to fame was winning the Metric Marathon in 5th grade. She wandered North and graduated Summa Cum Laude from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. A Certified Public Accountant and Deloitte Alum, Jennifer has found her true professional calling running a world class staffing firm.
With boundless energy, this mother of triplets plus two successfully handles the demands of running a business and raising five children. If Jennifer had any spare time, she would enjoy scrapbooking, cooking, wine tasting, Lyle Lovett concerts and travel. Jennifer is a huge Star Wars fan; so much so that she embraced her inner geek with Star Wars Pop Art for the corporate office.
Michael Boyer, CPA, MBA
Chief Operating Officer
Michael formally joined Alliance Resource Group in 2016, but he has been a part of the company since day one in 2003. Michael and Jennie are married, so he has enjoyed many business conversations through the years and has been responsible for the finance duties since 2006. With the growth ARG has experienced over the past few years, Jennie convinced him to quit his day job and come on board full time to run operations and finance. Michael is a CPA and has an Executive MBA from U.C. Irvine.
Growing up in Fresno, California he graduated with his bachelor’s degree from Fresno State before moving to Orange County. Michael brings a strong accounting and finance background and an outsiders perspective, having worked as a CFO and finance executive for small private to large public companies for the past 20 years. An interesting factoid about Michael – he was a Drill Sergeant in the U.S. Army before going to college, but he is more bark than bite and makes a better accountant.
Rebecca Vasudevan
Executive Assistant
Rebecca is Jennifer’s assistant and the ‘air traffic controller’ for Alliance Resource Group. She is the organizational whiz who keeps the planes all flying in the right direction so we can better serve our clients and candidates!
Born and raised in Massachusetts, Rebecca earned a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University (Go Big Red!) and an MAT from Simmons University. In 2016, she and her husband moved to Southern California for the sunshine and never looked back. She worked for a large organizational consultancy that specializes in executive search for six years before joining Alliance Resource Group in 2024. Rebecca is a great addition to the ARG team because of her deep industry knowledge, strong project management skills, and firm commitment to the organizations and individuals we serve.
On the weekends, Rebecca can often be found playing at the park with her son, cooking up a storm in the kitchen, or reading a good book.
Chloe Bachner, CPA
Recruiting Manager
Chloe is a former Big 4 CPA with a Bachelor’s and Master’s of Accountancy degrees from the University of San Diego. Chloe was born and raised right here in in Orange County. Prior to joining Alliance Resource Group, she was an Experienced Hire Recruiter for a large regional Public Accounting firm in Irvine.
As a huge animal advocate, Chloe volunteers her time to rescue dog organizations. She lives by the mantra “Adopt, Don’t Shop” and encourages everyone to do the same.
A perfect day for Chloe would find her, her husband Stephen and their dog Kona taking a walk at the beach during the day, followed by a home cooked meal paired with some nice wine.
Brandon Barrett, MBA
Recruiting Manager
Brandon was born and raised in Newport Beach not far from our Orange County offices. He has both his BS degree in Finance and his MBA from Chapman University. Brandon loves working with people and has always been a skilled networker, so when the opportunity to work in a sales position in the staffing industry presented itself, he jumped on it. Brandon is an excellent cook and enjoys preparing meals for his family; Tuesday’s are always reserved for taco night. What time should we be over on Tuesday?
If Brandon had a free day he would snowboard for a few hours in the morning, then hustle back down to the ocean for a sunset swim, grab some In-N-Out on the way home and settle in for a movie with his family.
Christopher Brunson, MBA, PHR, SHRM
Recruiting Manager
Chris has joined Alliance Resource Group following 14 years of progressive experience in Financial Planning & Analysis. This real world experience, along with his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from Cal Poly Pomona and his MBA From C.S.U. Long Beach, provides Chris with a great background to service his clients and candidates in a very personal way. Chris enjoys recruiting because it grants him the opportunity to interact with and learn about people, their goals and what motivates them in life.
We thank Chris for his service to the country; he spent a combat tour in Iraq as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army. On a free day, Chris would enjoy a hike with his dog Spartacus followed by a beach day with his friends and family.
Brad Chamberlin
Director, Executive Search
After receiving his bachelor’s in accounting with a minor in economics from Cal State Fullerton, Brad went to work as an auditor for PricewaterhouseCoopers. Brad really enjoys networking, so becoming a recruiter was an easy decision. When asked what he likes best about recruiting he replied, “The satisfaction of seeing the people we place being promoted and our clients becoming long-term trusted partners. It’s a great feeling when your candidate becomes a client by way of promotion.”
Brad is our only recruiter that can land a 360 flip on a skateboard and break 80 on the golf course. Impressive! If Brad had a free day, he would want to spend time with friends doing something competitive.
Erin Cooper
Recruiting Manager
Erin was born and raised in Southern California. She has a Bachelor’s in Business Management from CSU Dominguez Hills. She began her career at Ernst & Young as an auditor in their advisory services group and spent 5 years in that role. In 2012 Erin began recruiting for a large national search firm and worked with them for 7 years before she joined Alliance Resource Group. When asked why she chose recruiting as a career, Erin said “I enjoy working with and helping people. What makes me a good recruiter is that I have compassion, honesty and have great speed to market.”
Erin enjoys watching black and white movies, traveling and taking her cocker spaniel to the dog park. She is also a big fan of UFC matches.
Dean Gavello, MBA
Director, Executive Search
Dean began working in the staffing industry 25 years ago, which makes him Alliance Resource Group’s most seasoned recruiter. He joined ARG in 2016 after successfully owning and operating his own firm, The Bennett Group, for many years. What makes Dean such a great recruiter is his ability to find the true strengths in people. To Dean everybody is blessed and everybody shines. Dean is especially talented at matching candidates to the right jobs.
Born and raised in Connecticut, Dean got his undergraduate degree from University of Connecticut and an MBA from University of Massachusetts. A father of four, Dean and his wife, Toni, also share their home with a dog, two cats and a fish named Blue. If Dean had a free day he would go for the hat trick — fishing for yellowtail in the morning, a twilight round of golf followed by playing in a poker tournament. Boom!
Mark Lucas, MBA
Recruiting Manager
Growing up in Rainy Portland Oregon, Mark always wanted to live by the beach in sunny Southern California. After he finished his undergraduate degree in Business Administration with a Finance Concentration from Portland State University, Mark made the move out here and has never looked back. Mark joins Alliance Resource Group after owning his own business for 5 years. He chose recruiting because of his ability to help people and give the access to opportunities that they may not have been able to find on their own.
Mark was a 4-year scholarship athlete and played football for the Division 1 NCAA Portland State Vikings. His perfect day would be at the beach bodysurfing, followed by some spicy Mexican food.
Kyle Sakata
Recruiting Manager
Born in Hollywood and raised in Los Angeles, Kyle was destined to be a star. When that did not work out, he did the next best thing and became a recruiter. After graduating from California State University, Long Beach with a bachelor’s degree in finance, Kyle began his professional career working in accounting as an Assistant Controller and Controller for several companies in the surf industry. After a number of years working in accounting, he became an entrepreneur and developed two successful coffee-house locations in Orange County where he was the CFO (and head barista).
In 2003 Kyle again shifted his career and became a financial recruiter in the Bay area with a large national staffing company where he was responsible for building successful recruiting teams. Kyle joined Alliance Resource Group in 2009 as a Recruiting Manager.
Kyle is a proud parent of two girls, Maya and Sage, whom are attending college in San Francisco, CA and Paris, France. In his spare time, Kyle loves to fire up the BBQ after a good surf session.