Derek Swafford
Chief Executive Officer
Derek joined Shamrocks in April, 2016 after 15 years in banking. His experience includes positions as Bank Vice-President and Regional President in Marketing and Sales at Wells Fargo Bank, Fremont Bank and Union Bank. Derek has been in the O’Neil family for 27 years, giving him insight into the business of Federal student financial aid. Derek attended UC Berkeley and graduated from the Haas School of Business. He directs the marketing and sales of our products and services.
Micaela O’Neil Swafford,
Chief Financial Officer and President.
Micaela rejoined Shamrocks in 2014 after working as a Film Publicist in San Francisco for 10 years. Micaela started out managing enrollment reporting and student status updates for clients schools. With her late mother’s coaching and mentorship over the years, she learned how to reconcile the fiscal and accounting reconciliations that must be done weekly and monthly. Now, she is managing all the fiscal accounting and reporting along with the daily operations of the business. Micaela graduated from UCLA with a bachelor’s degree in Art History.
Stephanie Portugal
Processing Supervisor
Stephanie joined Shamrocks in 2000 and manages Federal Student Financial Aid Packaging and Processing Services. Stephanie is the definition of a true professional when it comes to working with client schools. She started as a Receptionist in Customer Service and is now an experienced Financial Aid Professional and Supervisor who handles everything from funding, R2T4 calculations, fiscal responsibilities, audit preparations, responding to auditor questions, as well as contributing to new procedures.
Kellye MacLeod
Financial Aid Administrator
Kellye rejoined Shamrocks in April 2011 after 16 years in Federal Student Financial Aid Administration in private postsecondary education. In the process, Kellye earned two Bachelor of Science Degrees in Accounting and Business Administration. Her extensive experience and expertise include Federal Regulation Compliance, Federal Student Financial Aid Packaging, Federal Funds Management and Reporting and Federal systems operations. Kellye is a Senior Federal Student Financial Aid Associate at Shamrocks, performing services online and connecting to our proprietary software, FC5-NexGen.
Nicholas Williamson
FA Specialist.
Nick joined Shamrocks in 2017 and manages Federal Student Financial Aid Packaging and Processing Services. He started as a Junior FA Officer and has grown to a FA Officer due to his diligent work and attention to detail. He also handles FISAP and FWS for our clients. Nick is a pleasure to work with and is very responsive. Nick graduated from the University of Pacific in 2020 with a degree in Applied Economics.
Tim O`Neil
Founder and Consultant
Tim founded Shamrocks in 1977. An experienced teacher and college administrator, Tim has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English from Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles and a Master of Arts Degree in American Studies from California State University in Los Angeles. Prior to beginning his career path in Federal student financial aid, Tim taught English at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles and became Director of Admissions at St. Xavier University in Chicago.