Corporate Info

ACCENT was founded by Thomas Hansen. As chairman, he works closely with ACCENT’s leadership team to determine long-term growth strategies and is instrumental in generating international business development opportunities through partnerships and alliances.

For more than 25 years, Hansen has been a strategic leader in cultivating multi-million dollar business opportunities for large enterprises. Prior to ACCENT’s inception, he spent eleven years with General Electric where he held a variety of financial and senior marketing positions.

Hansen received his bachelor of science in business administration from Illinois Wesleyan University.

Kevin Foley serves as president and CEO of ACCENT, responsible for the overall strategic direction and operations leadership of the company.

Foley brings more than 15 years of operational and technology experience to ACCENT, which includes the development and implementation of CRM infrastructures for Fortune 1000 companies. Since joining the company in 1999, he has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility including executive vice president of operations, marketing and sales, chief information officer and chief operating officer.

Prior to joining ACCENT, Foley spent eight years with General Electric in various engineering, operations, IT, finance, and management roles. While at GE, he was trained in Six Sigma and ISO 9001 standards.

Foley received his bachelor of science in electrical engineering from the University of Kentucky.

Linda Ruffenach, chief operations officer, is responsible for all domestic and international contact center operations, workforce management, and new program implementation.

Ruffenach, an operations and financial professional, brings more than 15 years of call center experience to ACCENT. Since joining the company in 1994, she has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility, including chief operations officer and president of customer service. Most recently, as chief financial officer, she was responsible for general accounting, treasury management, financial planning, reporting & analysis, and overall corporate compliance for ACCENT.

Prior to joining ACCENT, Ruffenach served as a senior financial analyst for Bank of America. Her career background includes a number of financial and operations roles with USF&G Financial Services and PepsiCo.

Ruffenach received her bachelor of science in business administration with a minor in computer science from the University of Texas.

Chris Dauk serves as chief financial officer, responsible for all financial and analytical needs of the company, including accounting, tax, treasury, finance, and compliance.

Since joining the company in 1997, Dauk has served in a number of roles of increasing responsibility. Most recently, he served as director of decision support where he worked to shape ACCENT’s information technology offering by implementing enterprise data warehousing and delivering new analytical tools and decision models that allow clients, both internally and externally, to make more accurate and timely decisions regarding their customer care initiatives. Additionally, he has overseen the company’s workforce management units and managed direct marketing activities for several key clients.

Prior to joining ACCENT, Dauk managed the marketing and underwriting activities for three states for The Westfield Group, one of the country’s largest property and casualty insurance companies.

Dauk received his undergraduate degree in Psychology from Duke University and his Masters degree in Business Administration from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business.

Patrick Scheen, chief marketing officer, is responsible for all marketing operations of ACCENT, a position that encompasses marketing services, direct mail, and sales.

Scheen has more than 18 years of domestic and international experience in contact center management, direct marketing, and consulting. Prior to joining the company, he spent ten years at Digitas, a leading marketing and strategy consulting firm based in Boston.

His career background includes designing and executing in-market programs for Fortune 100 clients including AT&T, FedEx, GM, AMEX, Braun, CIGNA, BT Celnet, and Kingfisher. Additionally, he has managed internal corporate and external service bureau operations and directed numerous consulting engagements supporting call center optimization.

Scheen earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of Kentucky.

Curt Bimschleger, executive vice president of business development, is responsible for driving new account and revenue development, as well as deepening relationships with existing clients.

Bimschleger brings more than 20 years of sales, management, business strategy, and integrated direct marketing experience to ACCENT. Prior to joining the company, he served as president of sales and marketing at Protocol, a preeminent integrated direct marketing services company. While there, he was responsible for delivering $155 million in revenue through strategic sales and marketing initiatives. Before Protocol, Bimschleger held executive sales positions at Acxiom Corporation, D and B, and Experian Marketing Solutions. As vice president of sales at Experian, he instituted strategic selling initiatives that led to an increase in sales from $17 million to $41 million. Bimschleger began his career at RR Donnelley and Sons, a Chicago-based full-service provider of print and related services, including business process outsourcing.

Bimschleger earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Miami University of Ohio and has completed executive development programs at Columbia and Northwestern.

Kevin Donoho, chief information officer, is responsible for recommending and deploying technology and processes for the company as well as managing application development and networking teams in ACCENT’s domestic and International sites.

Donoho brings more than 10 years of operational and technology experience to ACCENT. He joined the company in 1997, serving as ACCENT’s first Network Administrator. Since that time, he has successfully served in numerous roles of increasing responsibility within the Information Technology department. Kevin has also been instrumental in the opening of all but one of the company’s contact centers both domestically and internationally. And, his outstanding service, leadership, and dedication have been recognized numerous times – receiving back to back Commitment to Excellence awards in 1998 and 1999, as well as receiving ACCENT’s first CEO Award in 2001.

Prior to joining ACCENT, Donoho worked for a major national defense contractor for nine years managing the ordering, storage and fulfillment of critical components used to manufacture both military and commercial aircraft skins. His career background includes serving in a number of operational and manufacturing leadership roles.

Donoho received an AAS degree in Computer Information Systems from Jefferson Community College in Louisville, KY.

Laura Carpenter, chief people officer, is responsible for overseeing people services and training, a position that encompasses employment, placement, orientation, benefits, and employee services.

Carpenter has more than 15 years of human resource operations experience. She joined ACCENT in 2003 as corporate people services manager before being promoted to her current position.

Prior to joining ACCENT, Carpenter served as vice president of human resources at AMERIGROUP, a leading provider of managed healthcare services for the public sector. While there, she was responsible for overseeing all aspects of employee services including employment, placement, orientation, benefits, and training. Her career background includes a number of human resources positions of increasing responsibility for Value Options and General Electric in Rhode Island.

Carpenter received a bachelor’s degree from Central Connecticut State University and holds a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification. She is also a facilitator for Achieve Global, an international consulting and business training firm that develops training to help organizations enhance individual job performance, teamwork, and overall corporate competitiveness.