It’s a common refrain in our office. Teammates of mine often remark how rare it is to find work that’s both challenging (meaning, there’s lots of opportunity for growth) and extremely rewarding. We’ve found this sought after mix in our day to day at Landed. I’m extremely proud of what we’re able to create as a result.
I’m also extremely thankful for our team. These people have taken a chance on a collective dream for what could be in the world. As one of our folks put it, “I am thankful for this amazing family of a team that is kind, passionate, thoughtful, authentic and energized to change the way people own homes and build wealth.” True leaders, these folks are: Jonathan, Jesse, Jess, Ian, Nikki and Emily.
But we are under no illusion that our success to date is all our own doing. That’s not how the world works. Sure, we do our job to get better everyday, but we’re successful because of the mutual efforts and support of our myriad of partners. It’s our proverbial ‘village’ that we have to thank for the chance to build what we want to see in the world.
And the holidays are our time to reflect on this ‘village.’ Although not exhaustive, here are some select, extra special shout outs of thanks from our team:
- “I’m extremely grateful for the hard work and commitment of teachers, administrators, and school staff who ensure our communities provide excellent education for our children.”
- “I am thankful for all the pioneering homebuyers who have taken part in this homebuying journey with us: Fidel, Carol, Conor, Angela, Sara, Isaac, Joel, Sonya, Maria, Troy, Alex, Joyce, Erica, Rodrigo, and several others.”
- “Thank you to all the school leaders who saw the value of Landed, stepped up as pioneers in their communities and helped champion us and make connections for us. In particular: Jeff Baier in Los Altos, Jeff Harding in Mountain View-Los Altos, Kevin Skelly in San Mateo, Beth Polito at Woodside, Valerie Pitts, formerly of Larkspur-Corte Madera, Steven Keller in Redondo Beach.”
- “Grateful for every board member and community leader that I've met with who cares deeply about the success of their students and sustainability of their school and communities. In particular: Jason Kaune and Cara Hoxie from Orinda, Brad Serkin from Redondo Beach and Marc Tarpenning and Chris Shaw from Woodside, and Sangeeth Peruri at Los Altos.”
- “Thank you to the visionary Heads of School and Trustees who helped bring Landed to new independent schools in the Bay Area, including Terry Lee and Hoon Cho at Nueva, Richard Dioli and Paul Rydberg at Sacred Heart Schools, Chris Mazzola at Branson, and Scott Riches at Pinewood School.”
- “A special thank you to the education and community leaders in Santa Cruz, my hometown, who helped bring Landed to Santa Cruz County and advised us along the way - Michael Watkins, Kris Munro, Fred Keeley, Rose Filicetti, Doug Erickson, Robert Singleton, and many more.”
- "Thank you to Tony Lewis of the Donnell-Kay Foundation, Paula Davis, Kim Dolan, Rachel Carlson, Jared Montgomery and Aurbey Lynch of DSST, and Allen Balczarek of Denver Public Schools, among others, for bringing Landed to Colorado!"
- “Appreciative of all the great organizations who keep us informed and inspired, give us a platform to share ideas, and are on the front lines, advocating for better housing policy: ULI, SFHAC, SPUR, and TechEquity Collaborative.”
- “Grateful for those working alongside us to lift our educators up: organizations like The Teacher Salary Project, Teach for America, and other leaders and philanthropists committed to investing in educators.”
- “Thank you to Stanford Federal Credit Union and especially Gabrielle Taylor, without whom we could not have achieved all that we have.”
- “Thank you to Ron Star and Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer for guiding us from the start.”
- “James Higa and the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation who have lent us advice and encouragement, above and beyond expectations, from early days.”
- “Fred Schippa and RISE Consulting Group for bringing experience and elbow grease to our shared mission.”
- “A big thanks to our company investors, who took a chance on us when we were nothing more than idea on paper.”
- “Clint and Myriam of Ulu Ventures for pioneering new, creative ways to add substantial value, beyond dollars, for our leadership team.”
- “Jim and Kat of Draper Richards Kaplan for pushing us to be better and better every week, because you know we can be.”
- “Caitlyn Fox and the whole crew at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for accelerating our work beyond what we could have imagined.”
- “Thank you to our wise and charming independent school advisors, Al Adams and Brewster Ely, who have helped us navigate deftly into uncharted waters.”
- “Grateful for the many people, including Howard Wolf, Natalie Foster, Sarah Stein Greenberg, Katherine August deWilde, Eric Liu, Noland Chambliss, Alexey Ivanosky, the team at Y Combinator, Peter Kelly, Sophie Hayward, Melissa Leiter, Ashley Grabill, Ben Matranga, Derek Jansen, Barry Fischer, Conor Farese, Ross Jensen, and others who took time out of their busy lives to help advise Landed on their unique areas of expertise and help us think through our strategies in new and creative ways.”
- “Couldn’t do this on the daily without our team’s significant others and families, who are called upon for all sorts of help and perspective: Cyrene Wu, Jonny Styron, Susan Tochterman, Jen Ong, James Stephens, Susannah Cunningham.”
Wishing you and yours a restful, peaceful and reflective holiday season.
