Our Team
James D. Shearer—PresidentAs president of Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC Jim Shearer is charged with leading the Asset Management and Property Management teams. He is responsible for stewarding the assets in an effort to maximize their operational and financial performance. Jim is a seasoned real estate operator and, most notably under his leadership, he led large business-unit turnarounds for two of the largest REITs in the country, AIMCO and Equity Residential. The largest portfolio under Jim’s direct management included 65 assets totaling 17,921 units. He also led the recruiting, startup, and successful management of the Customer Service Center at the Indianapolis Regional Operations Center. Business model experience includes: privately owned, syndicated, REITs, and TICs. Jim has managed and/or asset managed multiple product types and classes including: Convention & Affordable Multifamily, Student Housing, Senior and Assisted Living Communities, and Commercial. The physical plants managed include: brand new construction, redevelopment, 30+ year-old assets, conventional built, and modular construction. The product classes managed include Class A, B, and C. Jim currently resides in Orlando Florida, enjoys history, sports, travel, and spending time with his family. Jim can be reached at jshearer@wilkinsonam.com.
Kimra Holcomb—Executive Vice President
Kimra Holcomb, Executive Vice President of Property Management for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC, is a proven team leader with extraordinary leadership skills. Her responsibilities include providing operational expertise for all aspects of property management functions, asset management excellence, and the continual expansion of our third-party fee management business. A certified real estate manager, Kimra has over 20 years of operational experience in multifamily real estate including conventional multifamily housing and student and university housing for the two largest REITs in the country, AIMCO and Equity Residential. Kimra's demonstrated leadership gifts, attention to detail, and long history of management experience make her the ideal person to lead our Property Management Team. Her personal inner commitment and spirited drive paves a solid foundation for our Property Management Team. Residing in Bloomington, Indiana, Kimra enjoys spending her free time outdoors near the water. She is also very active and likes exercising, reading, and watching her daughter play varsity basketball at Ohio Northern University. Kimra can be reached at kholcomb@wilkinsonam.com.
Kevin C. Groomes—Vice President of Finance
Kevin C. Groomes, Vice President of Finance for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC, plays a key role in assuring accurate financial reporting. His duties also include key property contacts such as lenders, insurance agencies, and state regulators on property tax issues. A certified public accountant, Kevin has 15 years of experience in real estate and construction finance. He served as vice president of finance/controller at T&R Properties, Inc. for four years. While working for this Dublin, Ohio developer, builder, and property management company, he oversaw all financial systems, reporting, information systems, and financial debt, as well as contract negotiations. As controller for Presidential Construction, Inc., an affiliate of T&R Properties, he implemented new financial accounting software for the company and its affiliates, which included redesigning their reporting structure. Kevin attended John Carroll University in University Heights, Ohio from 1989 to 1990 and transferred to Capital University of Bexley, Ohio, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Accounting, graduating magna cum laude in 1993. Kevin resides in Dublin, Ohio, with his wife, Chrissy, and their two boys. Kevin can be reached at kgroomes@wilkinsonam.com.
Elizabeth A. Whitman—Chief Brokerage Officer & General Counsel
Elizabeth A. Whitman is Chief Brokerage Officer and General Counsel of Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC. Elizabeth joined the Wilkinson family of companies in March 2006 with more than 20 years of real estate and finance experience spanning multiple asset classes, including multifamily, senior housing, affordable housing, office, and retail. Immediately prior to joining Wilkinson, Elizabeth was an attorney with a Washington, DC area law firm, where her practice was limited to real estate and real estate securities matters. Previously, she served as an Administrative Law Judge for the District of Columbia deciding building, land use, landlord-tenant, and rent control cases, as Deputy General Counsel in charge of real estate and securities matters for a public company, and as an attorney with large law firms in New York City and Columbus, Ohio. Elizabeth received her B.F.A. with honors from University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, her J.D. cum laude from The Ohio State University College of Law, and her LL.M. in Securities and Financial Regulation with distinction from Georgetown University. Elizabeth licensed as an attorney in Maryland, Ohio, New York, and District of Columbia and is a licensed as a real estate broker in Maryland. Elizabeth resides in Potomac, Maryland with her husband, Peter, and their two children. Elizabeth can be contacted at ewhitman@wilkinsonam.com.
Cindy Peaster—Director of Property Operations
Cindy Peaster, Regional Property Manager, has more the 30 years experience in the multifamily industry. She has worked for the two largest REITs in the industry, Aimco and Equity Residential, and her portfolios have ranged in size up to 13 properties across 3 states, with assets consisting of new construction to 30+ years. She has demonstrated leadership in developing business strengths and in identifying operational opportunities that have lead to the financial success of her portfolios. Cindy enjoys gardening, spending time with her daughters, Amy and Lauren, and her dogs, Jake the Great Dane and little Casey a mixed breed. You can contact Cindy at cpeaster@wilkinsonam.com.
Lisa Devito—Director of Sales and Marketing
A proven veteran of the multifamily apartment business, Lisa Devito, Director of Sales & Marketing for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC, possesses creative vision, a keen eye for detail, and an outstanding record as a dynamic leader. Her dedication to Wilkinson Asset Management's values is unwavering. With 16 years of experience in managing and supporting sales and marketing for multifamily conventional, student housing, and tax credit properties, Lisa has excelled in growing demand, achieving sales goals, and delivering exceptional customer service. This wealth of experience has contributed to the positive financial results demonstrated with each and every community team. Most notably, Lisa's innovative marketing programs and strong customer service focus were major components in the demonstrated success of the university communities while working with the two largest REITs in the country, AIMCO and Equity Residential. Lisa's niche in working collaboratively side-by-side with onsite teams to achieve occupancy goals, and her can-do attitude, is contagious. Lisa resides in Bloomington, Indiana, and in her free time enjoys spending time with her two sons, Dylan and Tony. With Lisa's enthusiasm and personal touch she is uniquely qualified to lead your sales efforts. Lisa can be reached via email at ldevito@wilkinsonam.com.
Kellee M. Montmeny—Director of Operations
Kellee M. Montmeny is the Director of Operations for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC. Kellee joined Wilkinson in February, 2005. Her main responsibilities have been overseeing the day-to-day activities at the properties, interacting closely with third-property management teams, assisting in monthly cash flow management and coordinating all the reserve disbursements for each property. Kellee’s outgoing spirit and friendly personality have been key characteristics to maintaining quality relationships with the property staff, management teams, vendors, and lenders. She began her career with the Wilkinsons in 1992 with a prior venture, Quest International, where she was involved in the sales and marketing of the Quest 50%-Off Hotel Membership before moving into the Quest Products Department as an Account Manager. She helped develop new products to offer, and maintained vendor relations. Kellee graduated from the University of Washington in 1990 with a BA in Business Administration. Today, she resides in Yakima, Washington and loves spending time with her two daughters, Emma and Audree. She also enjoys exercising, running, skiing, training/competing in triathlons, and teaching group fitness classes. Kellee can be reached at kmontmeny@wilkinsonam.com.
Marilyn Kramer—Staffing and Development Manager
Marilyn Kramer is the Staffing and Development Manager for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC. She is detail-oriented and especially talented in team development and support. Her dedication in managing and supporting onsite property operations is unwavering. Prior to joining Wilkinson Asset Management, Marilyn spent over seven years building and supporting multiple director-level and onsite property operations at AIMCO. Her experience is broad and includes conventional multifamily housing, student and university housing, and tax credit properties. Marilyn resides in Indianapolis, Indiana, and enjoys traveling and spending quality time with her family and friends. Her favorite trip was a Mediterranean cruise she took in the Fall of 2008. Marilyn can be reached via email at mkramer@wilkinsonam.com.
Lindsey Van Newkirk—Director of Resource Development
Lindsey Van Newkirk is the Director of Resource Development for Wilkinson Asset Management, LLC. Lindsey’s role is to manage property management business initiatives and change for the Operations team, including standardizing business processes, identifying and mitigating impacts to operations from business change, developing training strategies and programs, tracking adoption and measuring value, identifying operational strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for improvement, and developing key shared metrics and goals. Prior to joining Wilkinson, Lindsey worked for the Operations team at Aimco, where she obtained diverse experience in project management and operational analytics in areas including Property Operations, Marketing, IT, Training, Legal, and Procurement. Lindsey holds a Bachelor's degree from Texas A&M University and an MBA from the University of Colorado at Denver. In her free time, Lindsey enjoys spending time outdoors near her Denver, Colorado home, participating in activities such as gardening, hiking, competing in triathlons, snowboarding, and volunteering. When she’s stuck inside, Lindsey enjoys cooking for her husband Jake and playing with their two dogs. Lindsey can be reached at lvannewkirk@wilkinsonam.com.
Kelli Mattingly—Director of Compliance & Information Services
Kelli Mattingly is the Director of Information Services for WAM. Kelli is charged with the management of all Information Technology systems and initiatives for the WAM Operations team, including hardware and software acquisition, maintenance and support. Kelli has more than 14 years of operational experience in the multifamily real estate industry, working previously with both conventional and subsidized multifamily housing for AIMCO. Kelli’s diverse skill set includes IT management and support, training, revenue management, and project management. Kelli is highly valued by the WAM team for her ability to offer both a strategic long range outlook and plan for the IT infrastructure, as well as hands-on support in deploying and managing IT systems. Kelli holds a Bachelor's degree in Business from Indiana University, and has two national certifications; Certification of Occupancy Specialist (COS) and Tax Credit Specialist (TCS) from the National Center for Housing Management (NCHM). Kelli and her husband Michael enjoy traveling and spending time with their family and friends near their home in Noblesville, Indiana. Kelli can be reached at kmattingly@wilkinsonam.com.
Martin (Marty) Schwager—Director of Commercial Operations
Martin (Marty) Schwager serves as the Director of Commercial Operations for WAM. Marty has over twenty years experience in third party commercial real estate management in areas including lease negotiations, budgeting, financial performance, engineering and building services , contract and vendor management, and construction and tenant improvement management for office and industrial assets. Marty has managed a variety of commercial property entities including office, mixed-use office, hotel, retail, light industrial, as well as multi-family residential. Marty’s experience includes twelve years as Asset Manager for a regional full service property management company in the Northeast. Marty received his Real Property Administrator(RPA) designation from the Building Owners and Managers Institute (BOMI) in 1996 and is active with the Hartford, Connecticut chapter. Marty resides in Granby, Connecticut with his wife Julie and their three children. Marty can be reached at mschwager@hartfordsquarenorth.com.
Gregory Cross—Cheif Engineer - Commercial Property Operations
Greg Cross, the Chief Engineer for Commercial Property Operations, is responsible for the management of all commercial building mechanical systems and facilities. Greg has over 30 years of experience in mechanical contracting and facility management experience for multi-tenant, government office, hotel, and residential facilities. Greg ensures all assets are maintained in their highest quality condition and approaches facilities management with the safety and comfort of all tenants, as well as the protection of the owner’s assets, in mind. Greg is committed to efficient and ‘green’ facilities management through the reduction of energy consumption and waste output. Greg holds an Associate’s degree from Northwest Connecticut Technical College, as well as Master Licenses in HVAC, Fire Protection, Plumbing and Solar Thermal in Connecticut. Greg is also a BOMA-certified Systems Maintenance Administrator and a certified NEEP Building Operator. Greg currently resides in Hartford, Connecticut with his wife, Lisa, and enjoys practicing his ‘green’ philosophy at home. Greg can be reached at gcross@hartfordsquarenorth.com.
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