President/Owner of Firm
Jennifer Powers
I was a Project Manager in construction for 13 years prior to becoming a recruiter in 2005.
When I started my recruiting career in 2005, I was so naïve that I didn’t even know that companies would pay for this service! I just felt in my gut that this was probably something I could do very well, to combine my business acumen, project management skills and most importantly my love of people. I had great mentors while I was at Management Recruiters of Sacramento, mainly the owners, Karl and Beth Dinse, who have been in the business since 1976. I went on to receive most of the awards a recruiter can win including Rookie of the year, Account Executive of the year (many times) and achieved $1 million in sales faster than any other recruiter in the office since it opened, I was like a duck in water! In January of 2012, I decided it was time for me to start my own recruiting firm and that is how J Powers Recruiting, Inc. came to be.
The most amazing skillset we learn in recruiting (and that serves our clients and candidates very well) is that we become experts in human behavior, especially under times of stress. Some of our candidates relocate thousands of miles away from their families to pursue an opportunity and we are right there with them every step of the way. The secret is asking the right questions, listening, then applying what we know to help people make the right decisions for themselves.
My work history:
- President/Owner of J Powers Recruiting: January 2012 to present
- Executive Search Consultant/Recruiter: January 2005 to December 2012
- Project Manager for a Heavy Civil Construction Contractor: November 1997 to December 2004
- Environmental Project Engineer (Cypress Freeway), Caltrans – October 1992 to November 1997
Education:
- AS in Civil Engineering Technology, Santa Rosa Junior College
- Continuing education throughout my entire work history
Senior National Executive Recruiter
Jenna Flanagan
Jenna is our Senior Executive National Recruiter; she was the first employee hired by J Powers Recruiting in 2012. She previously worked for one of the largest recruiting firms in the nation, Management Recruiters International. It was there she quickly moved up the ranks as an executive recruiter working under the direction of her current boss Jennifer Powers developing clients and placing executive level positions in the construction, engineering and public industries.
Since joining J. Powers Recruiting, Jenna has continued to develop her skill in market mastery executive search recruiting. Some of her most notable searches has been with the California High-Speed Rail Authority, numerous public agencies across the nation and placements with the largest construction engineering firms in the nation. She works with Clients and Candidates throughout North America including C-level professionals, managers, engineers, project managers and estimators.
She holds her BS degree in Business Administration, Human Resources from California State University, Sacramento.
Jenna considers herself a people person, she gets satisfaction from helping others and building relationships. Recruiting give her that change to make a difference.
Executive Assistant - Office Manager
Gina Academia
Gina is a seasoned Executive Assistant with over 25 years in the field. She has extensive experience with all administrative tasks, including planning, scheduling and correspondence. Having held positions in all fields, she is able to tailor her skills to meet the needs to various clients. She has increased efficiency in several of her assigned roles and is very effective at office management. As a senior assistant, she emphasized having specific skills sets in the realms of analysis, savings, organizational efficiency and planning. She also planned several events including company open house, golf tournaments, employee training programs and activities. Gina is able to interact directly with potential and existing clients and has increased customer satisfaction ratings at several companies.
Gina is an immigrant from the Philippines, having graduated from St. Paul University with a bachelor’s degree in Business and Secretarial Administration. During her college years, she took stenography class for three years. “It was so much fun writing in shorthand, unfortunately, if you don’t use it, you lose it”. After graduation, she served as an administrative assistant to a renowned shipping container company in Manila. In that role, she has been responsible for organizing meetings and schedules. Three months after graduating college, she immigrated to California.
“Executive level support and office management is my forte. I believe in partnership and a long‐term collaboration with my manager and colleagues. I view my accomplishments as a mutual thing – the success of my manager is a reflection on myself and vice versa – and thus, there is a true atmosphere of teamwork and solidarity between us. I am blessed to be part of J Powers, Inc. because I’m surrounded by amazing people who bring so much positive energy to the company.”
“As I get older, I found out that true happiness is not about how much you make, how many degrees you have, or material possessions you’ve acquired through the years. The most important thing in my life is finding true happiness, peace, joy and calmness in life. My family is what matters to me. I draw my strength from them.”
Senior National Executive Recruiter
Fianna Dietrich
Fianna began working with J. Powers Recruiting in January of 2015 with an interest in starting a new and different career. Since then, her focus has been on, Wastewater, Water, and underground Utilities. She has recruited for Heavy Civil construction, Wastewater, California High-Speed Rail Authority, , Electrical companies and San Francisco State University. She works with Clients and Candidates throughout North America and beyond including, but not limited to, C-level individuals, managers, engineers, project managers, estimators and sales engineers. She has played a pivotal role in sourcing thousands of potential candidates for over a dozen retained and contingent searches.
She holds a B.S in Landscape Architecture from UC Davis School of Environmental Design. She has many passions and work experiences that have brought her into executive recruiting.
Her long history in the high-end hospitality industry, has provided her with the ability to work under pressure while maintaining the highest-level customer relations.
Fianna enjoys bringing the right people together while providing outstanding support, bringing top talent to the right place. She utilizes her experience and knowledge to provide the best match for executives to the culture, values, and ideals of her Clients. Her focus is in Wastewater, and underground Utilities.
Fianna enjoys bringing the right people together while providing outstanding support, bringing top talent to the right place. She utilizes her experience and knowledge to provide the best match for executives.
Civil Engineering Director National Executive Recruiter
Nora Wood, CSAM
Nora manages our Civil Engineering Practice nationwide, specializing in Transportation, including all aspects of Rail. She’s earned a BS in Advertising from San Jose State University and carries the prized CSAM designation reserved for a select few recruiting professionals who have met rigorous performance and knowledge requirements.
Nora began her career recruiting Professional Engineers in 2005 with Management Recruiters International. She and the owner of J Powers Recruiting, Inc., Jennifer Powers, have known and collaborated with each other since then, sharing candidates between their respective offices to better service their client’s needs and candidate desires. Nora’s first 5 years of recruiting resulted in breaking records at MR Templeton for the most billings of any account executive ever in 2007, and the most billings and placements of any rookie account executive at the end of her first year. She and Jennifer have both achieved the MRI Network’s Pacesetter designation, ranking in the top 5% of all recruiters.
Nora’s record of career placements is based on matching a candidate’s motives, skills, and future plans with the client’s needs. Today she continues her strict policy requiring all information, pro and con, be laid out ahead of time on both sides. This has, and continues to ensure successful matches of personalities, strengths, company, and culture, resulting in long term placements.
Nora has taken her mantra from the U. S. Navy SEABEES: “The difficult we do now, the impossible takes a little longer.” Her past success with difficult assignments in the Civil Engineering sector stems from her appetite for embracing challenges combined with her employment of a highly focused approach. The greater the challenge, the more excited she becomes. Her clients and candidates reap the benefits of this attitude and she is still in touch with and advises many of these engineers she’s known since entering the industry in 2005.
Associate Recruiter
Naomi Loretz
Naomi is the newest addition to the J. Powers team. She was brought on as an Associate Recruiter to work under Jennifer Powers.
Naomi brings an entrepreneurial mindset and has owned and operated her own catering business, is an accomplished Event Planner and is skilled in project management. She has worked in Marketing and Advertising. She also assisted and advised in and around the Real Estate field.
She graduated in 2009 from UC Davis with a B.S. in Psychology and a minor in Political Science. She has an extensive background in volunteerism and coalition building for a variety of organizations and non-profits.
Her background and experience of building and creating systems and structures allow her to connect with the lives and experiences of those in the field of Construction and Engineering. Naomi likes connecting the right people with the right opportunities for their career.
Her hobbies include hiking, writing, painting and spending time with her daughter in a beautiful little neighborhood in Sacramento.
Director of Recruiting
Leona Williams
Leona brings a wealth of knowledge with more than 20 years’ experience in Executive Recruiting.
She started her career in 1999 with MRI as an Account Executive focusing on Retail and Distribution where her success was reflected by her commitment to excellence. Her clients ranged from small, privately-held companies to multi-billion big box chains and department stores. She was a perennial recipient of the Pacesetter Award and earned her Certified Senior Account Manager title shortly after she qualified in her 2nd year in the business. Thought her career, she enjoyed training and mentoring both inside and outside of the offices.
After 11 years, she left MRI to join a startup that quickly grew to over a million-dollar business where she headed up the Retail side of the company. She was the first Executive Recruiter hired and was instrumental in helping to develop the core strategies for training and growth for the company with her area.
After starting her own firm in 2017, Leona left the business to pursue her outside interests and is now back and thrilled to join J. Powers Recruiting, Inc.
“My approach to executive recruiting is to act as an extension of my clients and truly understand their business and strategy so that I can share their unique story with the top candidates in the marketplace. My goal is to always follow the Golden Rule by treating both my clients and my candidates the way I would want to be treated.”
With Leona’s combined years of experience and demonstrated knowledge of applicable laws, industry best practices and search methodology she is happy to be with such a successful organization as J. Powers Recruiting, Inc.
Leona enjoys spending time with her family, RVing with her husband and friends, golfing whenever the sun is out and traveling.
Account Executive
Christopher Morgan
Chris is the newest addition to the J. Powers team. He was brought on as an Account Executive.
He brings to the company a diverse skillset, particularly in communication, marketing, and customer service. He has owned and operated a woodworking business and is skilled in business organization and project management. He has worked as an editor in the newspaper industry and worked for many years in the high-end service industry.
Chris studied English at Sacramento State University, where he found success on the debate team, participating in both Parliamentary style tournaments and CDA style debate. He also worked for several college newspapers in the capacity of a reporter, writer, editor, and chief copyeditor.
His background in the building and service trades, coupled with familial ties to trades in the engineering and sciences, gives Chris a strong connection to the people working in those fields and an understanding of the vernacular necessary to work with them.
When he’s at home, Chris enjoys playing classical piano, gardening, building furniture for his family and friends, and, most of all, spending time with his wife and daughter.
