As the Director of Multifamily Management for a highly regarded commercial real estate company whose portfolio comprises nearly 3,000 units and more than 50 team members, she created and implemented unique marketing, promotion, resident retention, employee incentive, and maintenance programs that were hailed as the best in the business . . . and always ahead of the curve. The Property Management Association of Michigan honored her as Regional Manager of the Year in 2004 and singled her out for Best Employee Retention Program that year. Preston also accepted Management Company of the Year awards on behalf of her company in 2003 and 2004. The list of individual awards garnered by the communities under her guidance would fill a page in itself, and she was named one of the 10 Outstanding Women in West Michigan in 2003 by the Muskegon Chronicle.

A member of the board of the Property Management Association of West Michigan from 1997 to 2003, she served as its education chair in 2000-2001 and its President in 2002. Preston earned a Certified Apartment Property Supervisor (CAPS) designation from the National Apartment Association in 2002. She holds a 60-hour certificate in business from Northwestern University and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Western Michigan University. Dedicated to fostering excellence in the multifamily management industry, her articles have appeared in Multifamily Executive magazine, UNITS magazine, and other industry publications.

Gabriele and her husband, Tom, have two children and live in West Michigan.

As the Director of Human Resources for a commercial real estate investment company, Jennifer Koster directs the hiring, training, and performance measurement of a staff that includes more than 50 team members in the company's property management division. She has in-depth, hands-on experience in designing, developing, and implementing human resources programs to keep her company competitive in the marketplace.

Koster truly "worked her way up" from the ground floor to the executive suite, and along the way she gained valuable insights into what qualities to look for in property management professionals, and what methods work to supercharge performance and retain good people.  She got her start in the property management industry as an assistant property manager, then manager of two multifamily rental properties, then served as a training and auditing specialist before becoming a human resources director of a company with nine multifamily locations in its portfolio.

In Straight Talk, Koster shows that a company's bottom line benefits when it hires the best people and helps them become even better.  Her expertise includes incentive compensation programs that motivate employees to new heights of performance, streamlined performance review and appraisal systems, and on-target training and development. With her clear, concise communication style, Koster will help you customize and implement these and other programs to strengthen your team and bolster your bottom line.  

Koster earned a bachelor's degree in business administration (summa cum laude) from Alma College and an MBA from Baker College.  She has held the Senior Professional in Human Resources designation from the Society for Human Resource Management since 2003.