David Dodge, President/CEO

Dave is President and CEO of Professional Alternatives. Over the past eight years, he has helped guide Professional Alternatives to a leadership position in the executive search, recruiting and staffing services industry, consistently being ranked one of the fifty fastest growing private companies, one of the top twenty-five executive search firms and temporary staffing firms in Minnesota. In addition, Dave personally heads up ProAlt’s executive search areas for key sales and engineer positions.

Dave began a career in sales and sales management at Dataserv, a computer leasing and maintenance company. Over a nine-year period he held roles as Sales Manager, Vice President of Sales, Senior Vice President of Marketing and eventually, President and Director. During this period, Dataserv grew from a 20 person local company, to a 1400 employee, multinational firm. During Dave’s tenure as a member of the board of directors, the company went public on the London Stock exchange. His experience included direct management of a sales force of more than 35 professionals.

Following Dataserv, Dave founded Eagle Travel, a corporate travel agency. This company was eventually merged into Travelcorp, and was the 17 th largest travel agency in the country. After selling his interest in Travelcorp, Dave was a business development consultant with his own firm, Strategic Sales Alliance. In 1999, he purchased a controlling interest in Professional Alternatives.

Dave received a BS in Business Administration from the University of Minnesota. He is a member of Human Resource Professionals (HRP) of Minnesota, Twin Cities Human Resource Association (TCHRA), Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM), and the Minnesota Recruiting and Staffing Association (MNRSA). In addition, he serves on The Advisory Council of Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies at the University of Minnesota.

Bob Backes, Executive Vice President

As EVP of Professional Alternatives, Bob Backes heads up the Recruiting Alternatives Division and ProAlt Executive Search. He also is a partner in the company, and serves on ProAlt’s board of directors.

Prior to joining Professional Alternatives, Bob held positions as Senior Vice President of Human Resources for UnitedHealth Group, Uniprise Outsourcing Services, and PHP Minnesota. Bob’s expertise covers all aspects of Human Resource services including recruiting and talent acquisition strategy, HR services “co-sourcing”, and business transformation. He is actively involved in conducting key employee searches, with special focus in the healthcare and insurance arenas, with positions ranging from Human Resource Executives to Medical Directors.

Bob has over 19 years of human resources experience in the healthcare industry, and holds a Masters degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Southern Illinois University.

Pam Brennan, Senior Staffing Consultant

Pam Brennan joined Professional Alternatives, LLC in 1998. Initially, Pam worked on contract for Professional Alternatives, bringing clients expertise gained through a decade of HR generalist experience.  As a contractor, Pam was recognized for her outstanding contributions to Carlson Marketing Group's compensation and benefits team. Prior to joining ProAlt, Pam was an HR Manager for National Benefit Resources, a UnitedHealth Group subsidiary.   In 1999, Pam became a Staffing Consultant for Professional Alternatives, LLC.

As Senior Staffing Consultant, Pam is responsible for candidate assessment, client needs analysis and assignment management. She has been trained in Advanced Internet Recruiting Strategies (AIRS), and is a member of both Human Resource Professionals of Minnesota (HRPMN) and The Minnesota Association of Personnel Services (MAPS).

Kathleen Conroy, Staffing Consultant

Katy is a Staffing Consultant for Professional Alternatives’ Human Resource Staffing division. In this capacity, she helps clients recruit and hire top talent for their human resource positions. She works closely with both clients and candidates to create effective matches. Prior to this role, she was a recruiter for ProAltHR, where her primary responsibilities were candidate sourcing and screening, conducting interviews, and processing background and reference checks.

Katy joined ProAltHR as an HR Intern and became a full time employee in 2005. Prior to joining the company, she was a Human Resources/Marketing Assistant, and earned a Bachelors of Arts in Management, Human Resources, from the College of Saint Benedict. Katy is a member of the Human Resources Professionals of Minnesota (HRP-MN), the Minnesota Association of Personnel Services (MAPS), and the Twin Cities Recruiters Network (TRN).

Jodi Vollhaber, Recruiter

Jodi Vollhaber is a Recruiter for Professional AlternativesHR division. She joined ProAlt in 1999 and has served in a variety of roles from Office Manager to Recruiter for our Staffing Team. In her current role, Jodi sources and screens candidates, conducts interviews, and assists the Staffing team with assignment management. Prior to joining ProAlt, Jodi worked for several service organizations.

Jodi is a member of the Human Resources Professionals of Minnesota Association (HRP-MN) and the Society for Human Resource Management, (SHRM).

Leslie Albertson, Office Manager

As Office Manager for Professional Alternatives, Leslie provides expert support in areas of accounting, payroll and employee benefits. Prior to joining ProAlt, she held positions as Office Manager with Worldwide Gaming and Casino Data Systems .

Leslie has an Associates of Applied Science in Business Management from Ashworth College.