About ForEffect
One executive. Both chairs. Fifteen years of holding them.
ForEffect was founded by Mike McGee so that organizations without a seven-figure IT budget could have the same quality of technology and security decision-making he delivered inside public companies and federal programs. It is a certified veteran-owned small business based in Mill Creek, Washington.
Mike McGee
A CISO who audited banks, ran IT for a public company, and drove ships.
Mike has led information technology and security as Vice President of IT & Information Security at Vacasa, as CISO and SVP of Government Solutions at Accolade, and in director roles at Expedia and Concur. Before that he audited banks and credit unions as an IT security auditor at Coalfire. He served thirteen years as a surface warfare officer in the United States Navy.
He holds the CISSP, CISA, and CMA, an MBA in Financial Management from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a B.S. in Economics from the U.S. Naval Academy — which is why, at ForEffect, the budget conversation and the security conversation happen in the same meeting.
How we work
Three things you can hold us to.
The standard does not shrink with the client.
A church gets the same control thinking as a public company; it is applied to a smaller surface, not a lower bar.
Plain English, one page when one page will do.
Policies staff will read. Board reports trustees can finish. No fear, no jargon, no product to sell you.
Every recommendation has an owner, a cost, and a date.
If it cannot be executed by your team or your MSP within your budget, it is not a recommendation — it is a wish.
The team
Small by design.
Delivery is Mike plus a small bench of trusted associates — platform engineering, business development, and operations — so every client has a named executive and never a rotating cast.
Stephanie Drake
Leads ForEffect’s client relationships and partnerships; previously ran a nonprofit, which shows in how she scopes.
Marco Deleon
Builds the governed AI and integration layer that connects client systems; based in California, giving ForEffect an in-state West Coast presence.
Kristina Johnson
Keeps onboarding, invoicing, and delivery logistics running so engagements start on time and stay on schedule.
One call, no deck
Start with a conversation.
Tell us what keeps you up at night. We read and reply to every note — usually within one business day — and the first conversation is about your organization, not our services.
Book a 20-minute conversation
Pick a time that suits you. No slides, no pitch — twenty minutes on what your organization is dealing with and whether a fractional executive is the right shape of help.
Choose a time