Leadership - Edward Myers & Associates, Inc.

Edward Myers

President & CEO

Steven Spitz

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel

Beverley Newlin

Director of Investigations

Virginia Gonzalez

Manger of Investigations

James Edwards

Director of Field and Intelligence Operations

John Grabowicz

Manager of Open Source Intelligence

Edward Myers

President & CEO

Edward Myers is an investigation and risk assessment specialist with over 30 years of combined experience in both the public and private sectors. He has been court certified as an investigation expert and has presented as a guest speaker to corporate security professionals, private attorneys, state and federal prosecutors and law enforcement agents on a range of matters, including complex business and municipal fraud, workplace violence, threat assessment and litigation intelligence. Mr. Myers has provided technical consultation for television and film projects and he is the entertainment industry’s expert on U.S. and multi-national background screening for television networks, film studios, non-fiction production companies, media companies and brand marketing firms.

Mr. Myers has held senior director positions with two other well-established investigation and security firms – Gavin de Becker & Associates, where he directed a team of professionals conducting thousands of sensitive and confidential investigations regarding threats against the safety and privacy of public figures, business executives and other at-risk prominent persons, and Frasco Investigative Services, where he created and managed the firm’s white-collar investigations department to address business and municipal fraud, sensitive labor and employment issues, critical due diligence needs and complex litigation intelligence matters. Mr. Myers also created and managed Frasco’s Undercover Operations program, directing all aspects of covert intelligence collection as well as the supervision of law enforcement-sanctioned narcotics “buy programs.”

Prior to entering the private sector, Mr. Myers served in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Hardcore Gang Division, conducting a wide range of legal and investigative functions in support of the investigation and prosecution of criminal street gang members charged in homicide cases. He also served on the District Attorney’s Informant Task Force.

Mr. Myers possesses a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, is an active member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, and has received advanced law enforcement and private sector training in Interview and Interrogation, Threat Assessment and Management, Intelligence Operations and Crisis Management.

Steven Spitz

Chief Operating Officer & General Counsel

Steven Spitz is a legal professional with over 20 years of experience in legal and business affairs. Mr. Spitz is in charge of the firm’s operational and legal matters, including compliance, privacy, risk management and human resources.

Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Spitz served as General Counsel for Elements Behavioral Health, Inc., one of the largest for-profit healthcare providers of substance abuse and addiction treatment services in the United States. Before his tenure at Elements, he served as Vice President and General Counsel for Natrol, Inc., a formerly publicly held marketer and manufacturer of dietary supplements. While at Natrol Mr. Spitz was one of its named executive officers and part of the business team that was involved in the day-to-day management of the company.

Before moving in-house, Mr. Spitz spent nearly a decade in private practice, where he was a partner in the law firm of Riordan & McKinzie and later Bingham McCutchen, LLP, focusing on business and IP litigation.

Mr. Spitz is an Honors and magna cum laude graduate of Brown University where he received a bachelor’s degree in history and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He earned his legal degree from the Columbia University School of Law, where he was Head Articles Editor of the Columbia University Human Rights Law Review.

Beverley Newlin

Director of Investigations

As an Investigations Director, Beverley Newlin manages a team of investigation specialists and risk consultants addressing a range of client matters from litigation intelligence, corporate fraud and labor and employment to in-depth due diligence in the entertainment/production risk area. Ms. Newlin came to the Firm with over 25 years of prior legal experience as a senior paralegal, directing and conducting case support for complex business and intellectual property matters while working in first private practice and later in-house. Ms. Newlin is a member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners and the American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS). Ms. Newlin holds an Advanced FCRA Certification from the Professional Background Screening Association.

Virginia Gonzalez

Manger of Investigations

As Diligence Investigations Manager, Virginia Gonzalez leads a team of diligence specialists and investigators dedicated to reducing client vulnerabilities to reputational and economic harm through focused background intelligence gathering. Ms. Gonzalez has nearly a decade of investigative experience and has both managed and conducted several thousands of due diligence level background investigations regarding individuals and entities under consideration for high-risk, high-profile business relationships. Ms. Gonzalez possesses a master’s degree in criminal justice and holds an Advanced FCRA Certification from the Professional Background Screening Association.

James Edwards

Director of Field and Intelligence Operations

The scope of operations under Mr. Edward’s direction encompasses a wide range of our firm’s security operations as well as both overt and covert intelligence-gathering activities across the globe.

Mr. Edwards has designed and managed hundreds of close protection details for public figures and other high-risk persons, overseeing detail advances, security site assessments, liaison with federal, state and local law enforcement, as well as in-house logistical support. His resume of larger security event supervision has included the Emmys, the Grammys and the Golden Globes.

Mr. Edwards is a decorated 28-year veteran Detective supervisor with one of the largest and most prestigious police agencies in the United States, having investigated cases involving homicide, extortion, narcotics, terrorist activities, illegal weapons trafficking and white-collar crimes. Mr. Edwards is a certified weapons expert and Special Agent with the United States Coast Guard’s Investigative Service, as well as serving on task forces with other U.S. federal law enforcement agencies.

John Grabowicz

Manager of Open Source Intelligence

John Grabowicz is the Manager of the firm’s Open Source Intelligence Team, which has doubled in size under his direction. Mr. Grabowicz is an investigative professional with over 15 years of experience in both the public and military sectors. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Grabowicz spent over a decade in the United States Army, most recently as a supervising Criminal Investigation Command Special Agent, managing, coordinating, and conducting hundreds of felony level investigations ranging from narcotics to homicide as well as white collar crimes. Mr. Grabowicz possesses a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and a Master of Business Administration. He holds an Advanced FCRA Certification from the Professional Background Screening Association.