Managing Partners
Jim West
Jim West is the Managing Partner of The Barnabas Group, Orange County as well as the co-Founder of The Barnabas Group in 2000. He is also the Executive Director of The Pocket Testament League, a 116-year-old ministry that mobilizes and equips Christians to read, carry and share God’s Word. He is also co-Managing Partner of the San Diego Barnabas Group.
Jim spent 21 years in senior management in the mortgage industry. He taught school (college and junior high school physical education) for 10 years prior to that. He has a Master’s Degree from California State University, Los Angeles. He is currently Chairman of the Board for The Center for Student Ministries. Jim’s passion is evangelism and he is often on mission trips sharing the Gospel.
Board
Bob Brumleu
Bob is the President and Owner of Omni Duct Systems, a manufacturer of sheet metal for the air conditioning industry, with locations in Anaheim, Sacramento, Ontario and San Diego, California, Everett Wa., Coeur D’ Alene Id. and Chandler Az. Bob leads Omni Duct with the primary goal of honoring God in all that is done, based on the company's core values of integrity, caring and stewardship.
Bob has been a member of Calvary Church of Santa Ana since 1983. He has served on the board of The Sheepfold, a ministry for battered and abused women and children, since 1993. He also serves on the boards of The Pocket Testament League, Project Hangout, The Barnabas Group and Convene (formerly BBL.)
Bob graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Architecture. He is also a graduate of The Masters Program and was a member of TEC/Vistage for four years.
Bob Shank
Bob Shank is the Founder/CEO of The Master’s Program, a strategic life mentoring program for Christian marketplace and ministry leaders, and the co-founder of The Barnabas Group.
His 40-year career includes 14 years as a successful entrepreneur in the construction industry, four years as Senior Pastor of a mega-church in California, and 25 years as a founder/CEO in the non-profit sector.
Today, he serves on the governing boards of churches in California, New Mexico and Florida, as well as four ministries and two foundations. He and his wife, Cheri make their home in California, near their two adult daughters and their families.
Carl V. Labarbera
Carl is the Founder and President of the Kingdomworks SDG Foundation, which has as its mission to honor and glorify God by bringing people together to strengthen organizations that perform acts of service and share the Good News of Jesus Christ in the world.
Carl’s Christian worldview was developed while receiving his BA in Business Administration and Economics from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. He put his worldview to work as an owner/entrepreneur in the aerospace industry for 24 years. Responsible for companies from start-up and organizational development to growth and divestiture, he has a record of planning and implementing strategic vision, goals, and values to achieve growth through the empowerment of people and the utilization of resources.
Carl’s expertise is in the area of board governance and strategic planning. In that capacity, he has served as Elder Board Chairman during the merger of a mega-church in Southern California, serves as Board Chairman of several Christian ministries, and consults his home church Elder Board of Grace Church Long Beach. He is currently National Chairman of the Board of The Barnabas Group and a founding member of The Barnabas Group, Los Angeles. Carl and his wife Robin live in Seal Beach, California. Robin has her PhD in Education and is a professor at Biola University in La Mirada, California.
Constantino (Connie) Salios
Following a successful 30-year career in the home improvement industry, Connie sold his retail sales and merchandising company in 2005 and is now actively engaged serving as the National Managing Partner for The Barnabas Group. Connie’s current assignment is to help expand The Barnabas Group model into new cities and help to connect the time, talent, touch and treasure of Christian marketplace leaders with ministry opportunities around the corner and around the world.
Connie serves as an Adjunct Professor at Biola University in La Mirada, California teaching Practical Leadership Theory and Implementing Strategy in their Masters in Organizational Leadership Program.
In addition, Connie is a partner with CLD Consultants in Laguna Beach, California and serves on both non-profit and marketplace boards specializing in Organizational Development, Strategy and Change.
Dean Del Sesto
Dean is the Founder and CEO of Breviti, an award-winning branding, interactive and marketing communications agency located in Orange, California. With over 25-years experience, Dean has been directly involved in the local to enterprise-wide brand development of over 800 companies in the technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and financial service sectors and has helped many of his clients become category leaders.
On the ministry side Dean helps men with addiction and marriage counseling as well as business and ministry advisory. He is a past 10-year member of Convene Christian CEO Group - (Formerly BBL Forum.) As a strong advocate for business-as-ministry, his companies have been privileged to provide pro-bono marketing, branding and consulting services to dozens of non-profit organizations.
Dean and his wife Kitt have been members of The Barnabas Group for 7 years and attend Mariners Church in Irvine.
Greg Leith
Greg is Director of Strategic Partnerships & Corporate Relations at Biola University in Southern California where he is responsible for creating and maintaining strategic alliances with organizations, networks, corporations, executives and individuals that create mutual benefit and secure financial capital for the University. Greg has consulted nationally and internationally for small business and large corporate structures. His career spans 30 years of for-profit, non-profit, and academic experience in senior executive and independent business roles.
Greg was an executive for 20 years with The ServiceMaster Company, a multi-national, $9 billion firm. He served in various leadership capacities throughout North America as a Vice-President, Director of People Management, Controller, Regional Operations Manager, Director of Sales and Marketing and independent business owner and franchisor.
Greg has served as a board member to many non-profit organizations including Youth for Christ, Outreach Canada, The Barnabas Group and is the Chairman of Christian Credit Counselors. Greg and his wife Shelley have been married for almost 30 years, are the parents of five children and are passionate about teaching how God's truths can change lives, businesses, marriages and families.
James W. Johnson
James, a CPA partner of Johnson Hart & Dyson Accountants since 1976, is an Elder and member of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, California. He is a co-Founder and Board Chairman of The Foundation for Christian Stewardship a local Christian foundation whose donors have contributed over $110 million dollars to God’s Kingdom work since 1996. James is a member of the board of directors for Priority Living, The Barnabas Group, and several other corporations.
Steve Esser
Steve is the COO/Executive Director of The Master’s Program, a strategic life mentoring program for Christian marketplace and ministry leaders, and is a founding member of The Barnabas Group in Orange County, California.
His 40-year career includes 6 years as a public school teacher, 25 years in the heating and air conditioning industry, with 15 of those years as the President and Wwner of Pro Heating & Air in Southern California. For the last nine years, he has served as the COO/Executive Director of The Master’s Program. He also has an expert witness consulting business.
Currently he serves on the governing boards of three non-profits, and is involved in ministry in his local church in Southern California. He is also actively involved in discipling men to grow in Christ and to be spiritual leaders.
He and his wife Clara make their home in Orange, California, and are blessed to have their two married daughters nearby along with their five grandchildren.
Steven G. Philp
For over 12 years, Steve has been Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Incast Asset Management, Inc., a $35 million manufacturer of air duct and fittings to the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) industry in the western United States. IAM employs over 150 people, doing business in California and Arizona as Omni Duct Systems, and in Washington and Idaho as West Coast Manufacturing. Prior to joining IAM, Steve served as controller for five years at a consumer electronics company and began his career as a CPA for 10 years in the audit/accounting department at a Big eight accounting firm.
Steve serves on the board of directors of several non-profit entities, including Forest Home, Inc., a Christian camping and conference ministry; the Forest Home Foundation a charitable foundation serving Forest Home; The Barnabas Group; and Websites for Heroes, which provides safe, interactive websites for deployed military heroes to stay connected with their families.
Steve is 49 years old and lives in Orange County. He has been married for 27 years and has three grown daughters.