LEADERSHIP TEAM
CHARLES M. MENG
Founder & Managing Partner
Charles Meng co-founded MFA in 1970, and has successfully provided retained executive search services to private, nonprofit and public sector clients. The author John Lucht in his best selling book, “Rights of Passage at $100,000+”, named MFA as one of the country's outstanding executive search firms. Also, John Sibbald in his book, “The Career Makers” published by Harper Business, ranked him among the top 20 recruiters in the nation in the category, Universities, Colleges and Schools. Mr. Meng began his career at KPMG, Peat Marwick, and has over 30 years of experience in the executive search profession.
He has led client engagements in both the nonprofit/public sector and corporate sectors. In for-profit engagements, he has successfully developed and recruited senior management executives for client organizations including: Boeing, California Pacific Medical Center, General Motors, Raytheon, the Irvine Company, Mitchell Energy, Watt Industries, and Wells Fargo Bank.
Mr. Meng has also provided search services to public sector clients for senior public administration executives. In addition, his work has included key recruitments for foundations, nonprofit institutions and major universities such as: The Tiger Woods Foundation, City of Philadelphia, County of Los Angeles, City of Nashville and County of Davidson, California State University, Office of the Chancellor, San Jose State University, California State University, Long Beach, and UCLA.
In addition, he is a founding member of the California State University, Long Beach Board of Governors. He has served as a Trustee for the Boy Scouts of America, Los Angeles Area Council and as a Board Member of numerous corporations, associations and foundations. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach.
STEPHEN PEEPS
Partner
Before joining Meng, Finseth, Peeps & Associates, Stephen began his executive search career as a Partner in Heidrick & Struggles' Education and Nonprofit Practice.
This followed a decade's service as founding President and Chief Executive Officer of the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, a multi-faceted public charity located in Palo Alto, California. Under his leadership, the new Foundation generated nearly $400 million in gifts and grants. He also served for two years as Chairman of its Board of Directors.
During his tenure with the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health, Stephen served also as Chairman of the Board of Directors of The Woodmark Group, a consortium of Chief Development Officers at North America's twenty two premier children's hospitals.
Earlier in his career, Stephen spent over twenty years in higher education, assuming increasingly senior executive roles at Stanford University, including Associate Vice President for Public Affairs and Associate Vice President of Development. He also led Stanford's Centennial Celebration which ran concurrently with the University's $1 billion Centennial Campaign. For his collective service on the University's behalf he was honored with the Kenneth B. Cuthbertson Award for exceptional service, Stanford's highest distinction for non-faculty members. He was also appointed a University Fellow.
Stephen earned his bachelor's degree in English Literature "With Distinction" from Stanford, and his Ed.M. in Administration, Planning, and Social Policy from Harvard.
Cameron Wisowaty
Partner
Cameron has been with the firm for six years, and has over thirteen years of senior experience in all aspects of the advancement profession. She began her career with California State University Long Beach in the development office at the College of Business. She then moved to central development where she established a regional major gift program.
She later joined the University of California, Irvine as Director of Development for the College of Medicine. Prior to joining Meng, Finseth, Peeps & Associates, she was a major gifts officer at the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children's Health at Stanford University. With her first-hand knowledge of the development profession, Cameron is able to quickly identify prospects and build viable candidate databases that lead to strong placements.
She received her Bachelor's degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is a past presenter at the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
Marlene Rafferty
Senior Associate
In her fifteen-year tenure with the firm, Marlene has worked on senior public and private higher education, nonprofit, and state and county government engagements.
Marlene manages search administration, due-diligence referencing, coordination of detailed background investigation and publication matters. She is responsible for arranging candidate travel and scheduling. Ms. Rafferty received her Bachelor's degree from the University of Southern California.
Todd Trotter
Research Director
Melissa J. Manilla
Office Manager