Meet the team that gets up every morning passionate about serving you

We live by our values:

Serve whole-heartedly. Own it. Be excellent. Win together. Bring the sunshine.

Leadership

David Wurtzbacher
Founder & CEO

Erin Stahmer
Co-Founder & Chief People Officer

Nishaad Ruparel
President

David Fulcher
Chief Financial Officer

People

Avery Booth

Kim Chedgy

Kersten Collins

Amy Day

Alexandra Harvick

Aidan Jebson

Alexis Kelly

Ashley Nash

Amy Samuel

Stefany Sandoval

Patrick Sherrier

Claudia Taylor

Ayanna Warrington

Strategic Growth

Nathan Carter

Mac Holland

Lauren Johnston

Neil Rangwani

Venkat Sharma

Evie Woodforde

Finance

Ashley Anderson

Kevin Aquino

Jody Ivy

Jeff Kelley

Jay Seva

Joanne Wang

Aleah Yordy

Partnerships

Teddy Browning

Herbert Cacal

Jack Gayner

Sarah Hanly

Bobby Humen

Alissa King

Matt Siedle

Ryan Stiltner

Samantha Stuart

Leadership Profiles

David Wurtzbacher | Founder & CEO

I believe that an excellent business is one of the most powerful vehicles we have to lift people up. My purpose professionally is to serve others through my leadership and my passion is to revitalize the CPA profession by offering an innovative model for practice management and growth that benefits everyone. That’s why I started Ascend!

My favorite Ascend value is “Serve Whole-Heartedly”. People don’t talk about love much in the professional setting but I see it as a leadership value and core to serving people well.

I am proud to be from Colorado and now live in Virginia with my wife and two children. I am blessed to have spent some formational seasons of life at Wake Forest (BS Finance) and Harvard (MBA). I have worked at JP Morgan in NYC and prior to starting Ascend I was President and CFO of Lightwave Dental.

I love what I do and who I do it with. Everyone is on a journey to achieve their personal, professional and financial goals and I am absolutely passionate about knowing what those are for you and setting up a system in which you can achieve them. Come Ascend with us and reach your goals!

As a dancer turned “product person” turned “people person,” I firmly believe that each of us is on a personal journey to marry our passion, purpose, and highest potential. I’ve dedicated my career to helping individuals, teams, and organizations see new possibilities, clarify their vision, and realize their dreams. This personal passion is reflected in Ascend’s mission to honor and maintain the independence of the firms we partner with, while reimagining what’s possible and helping each other succeed through shared community and support.

My favorite Ascend value is “Bring the Sunshine.” While none of us can show up with 100% positivity every day, this value emphasizes our effort to explore creative solutions and to enjoy the journey with our colleagues just as much as we enjoy celebratory milestone moments.

I am grateful for the educational and professional experience that has led me to Ascend. In addition to studies at Columbia University (BA, Sustainable Development and Dance) and Stanford (MBA), I have built and scaled culture and strategy programs at Alpine Investors and have advised top C-suite leaders across private equity, hedge funds, and F500 companies on talent strategy, talent selection and the development of high performers as an executive at ghSMART.

I am a “West coaster” (from California) living out East (in Boston) with my husband and 14-pound cavapoo pup. On the weekends you can find me out on a run, catching up with a good friend on the phone, or dancing to music as I try a new healthy recipe in the kitchen.

In my time as an investor, I saw sparks fly when people allowed themselves to set ambitious goals and built trust with one another along the way. My role at Ascend is to tend to that fire - marrying our passion to revitalize this industry with a warm spirit that forges partnership on the road ahead.

My favorite Ascend value is "Win Together." Nothing significant was ever accomplished alone, and it is far more fun to share success!

I am fortunate and grateful for the experiences that have led me here - my upbringing in a diverse suburban town in New Jersey, my decade in New York City, split between time spent studying at NYU (BS in Finance and International Business) and years working in Investment Banking (J.P. Morgan) and Private Equity (AEA Investors). My most recent chapter has been in Northern California, where I spent 2 years at Stanford (MBA) and was later recruited by Alpine Investors to launch Ascend.

Depending on the weekend, you might find my wife and I strolling San Francisco's hilly streets, or with friends, enjoying the outdoors on a golf course, hiking trail, or snowy ski run.

David Fulcher | Chief Financial Officer

I believe that every day is a new opportunity to learn and grow, and that personal evolution is what makes life interesting, dynamic, and joyful. Some of my career “north stars” are the commitment to continuous improvement, treating others with kindness and respect, and keeping open lines of honest communication. I am deeply passionate about Ascend’s mission to empower entrepreneurial CPAs to reach their goals and am proud of the team we are building to do that.

The Ascend value that I strive for is “Be Excellent.” I think of this as a growth mindset, not one of perfection. While attending school in a small town in Iowa, I had a basketball coach who used to say, “Good things happen when you hustle down the court.” I believe the same holds true for work – I strive to provide 100% of my full self to support my teammates in achieving our collective mission: Be Excellent for our CPA partners, our employees, and our shareholders.

After graduating from the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business, I started my career at a large investment bank in New York City in the Financial Institutions Group. I then spent close to a decade at an operationally oriented, middle-market private equity firm, focused on the business services vertical. While in PE, I had the privilege of serving in two interim management roles and both companies saw substantial growth through the teams’ hard work and dedication. The opportunity to help launch Ascend and create an industry-leading accounting services platform has already been a tremendously rewarding experience! When I’m not in the office, I enjoy golfing, waterfowl hunting, playing chess, and working out.