YEAR BOOK
Celebrating 25 Years of Learning & Growth
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
Leaders at 25
Snapshots in Time Then & Now
VENTERRA AT 25
Turning 25 is a milestone. For people and for companies.
This year, as Venterra celebrates 25 years, we’re spotlighting some of our senior leaders at age 25. Before the titles. Before the big decisions. Before the lessons were fully learned.
Because growth doesn’t happen overnight. It happens through experience, reflection, and a willingness to keep learning.
Just as Venterra has evolved over 25 years through continuous learning and development, so have the leaders who guide our organization today.
We hope this yearbook makes you smile, feel connected, and remember that every great leader started somewhere.
LEADERSHIP LOOKBACK
JOHN FORESI
“This picture captures my early passion and love for 2 countries, Canada and America, countries that have been very good to me. ”
“One thing that hasn’t changed since the tender age of 25, is that I believe I am learning as much at 64 years of age as I was at 25. There is just so much that cannot be taught in school but rather must be learned on the playing field. The business environment gets more complex and competitive every year, making perpetual learning a necessity. That in itself is a privilege as it makes me feel “young” even though I am not ��. ”
ANDREW STEWART
“Some of the most meaningful relationships and lessons in my life have come from people with whom I fundamentally disagreed. Those experiences taught me to slow down my judgment and be intentional about listening and understanding, even when perspectives differ. I believe this mindset is especially important as viewpoints feel more polarized than ever ”
“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face ” Eleanour Roosevelt
PAM HIGDON
“One big lesson from sitting in a Finance seat is that the job isn’t just about cutting costs - it’s about making smart bets with capital to drive long-term growth. “
LEADERSHIP LOOKBACK
“If it isn’t broken, take it apart and fix it anyway ”
ANDREW GRACE
25 year ago, I was a freshly hatched engineer, soft-shelled, wide-eyed, and reasonably certain that engineers come from eggs. Just two years into university, I had acquired a respectable collection of equations and absolutely no idea what I wanted to be. Direction was hazy. Purpose was negotiable. Things begged to be taken apart, sometimes carefully, sometimes in blind panic and, ideally, reassembled without leftover screws. It’s been 25 years of wandering from puzzle to puzzle, dismantling, rebuilding, and occasionally improving. I still don’t know exactly where I’ll end up but right here, right now this particular workbench, feels comfy.
ANDREW BASSO
“That young pup in the picture was about to learn what John and Andrew truly meant by building a tech-forward company focused on centralization and automation. Through Venterra, I learned about perseverance, responding to adversity, how real estate technology really works, how to properly manage a project through its full lifecycle, how to keep learning, and why core values matter.”
“Venterra is the only place I could have worked for 20+ years where my hair somehow grew thicker and longer!”
“ A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves”
-Lao Tzu
DROR GOLDBERG
“At 25 I was all aggression, further refined by two years in graduate school and then 2.5 years as an investment banker. Since then I have learned at great cost the value of humility Not the fake variety where you placate those higher in what ever food chain your find yourself. Real humility where you can step outside your ego and realize your true shortcomings. Age has reinforced that this is an iterative process that never ends because over the last two and a half decades every time I have convinced myself that it all finally made sense, something upended my world view ”
LEADERSHIP LOOKBACK
JULIE TATOM
“Leave it better than you found it” -Robert Baden-Powell
“It always seems impossible until it’s done ” -Nelson Mandela
“Since 25, I’ve learned that resilience is built in the moments you’d rather avoid, not the ones you plan for. Leadership starts with ownership of results, mistakes, and the energy you bring. Boundaries are standards, not walls. Growth often shows up disguised as disruption. And who you become is shaped less by what happens to you and more by how intentionally you respond.”
ON FOUCAULT
e make mistakes. I've made plenty of them over my careerunderstandable, some downright silly. I've learned that most how you respond to your mistake is more important than stake itself. Own it, learn from it, and take action to ensure that it doesn't happen again. And if you're in a leadership position and the mistake happened on your watch, the same rules apply but be sure to extend the same grace that was extended to you numerous times throughout your own career.”
“If you ’ re going to be in a gang, be the leader ” -my father giving me career advice
CALVIN LEE-YOUNG
“When my daughter was 2, I told her go wash up. Suffice it to say she wasn’t feeling very obedient Her rebelliousness was rising & so was my temper. Frustrated and impatient, I pulled the authoritarian card and raised my voice, determined to show her who was boss and demand the respect I thought I deserved. Instead, it became a yelling match between a 33-year-old and 2-year-old, far less productive than I had hoped. The absurdity of that moment taught me something simple: acting from negative emotion usually produces negative results. Pausing, recognizing those emotions, and regaining perspective before responding is almost always the better choice.”
LEADERSHIP LOOKBACK
COLLEEN DEAN
“I used to think growth came from big moments or big wins. What I’ve learned is that it really comes from the small, disciplined decisions you make every day – especially when no one is watching.”
ERIN RABEN
“If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime”
“When I was 25, I received some of the best career advice of my life: “Never say no to an opportunity someone sees you as a fit for. You may not see the bigger picture yet.” ~ Stacia Anderson I’ve carried that with me ever since. Saying yes opened doors I never would have chosen on my own and taught me to trust leaders who saw potential in me before I fully saw it in myself. I can still hear my mentor at Whirlpool calling down the hall, “Be a problem solver.” That mindset stuck. I don’t dwell on obstacles. I focus on removing them. Those two lessons continue to shape how I lead and grow.”
“The world is run by those who show up. ” – my Uncle Charlie Beyer
2001
Venterra originally managed four communites (~800 units) in Texas and had only 35 on-site employees.
& NOW
2026
Venterra now operates properties in 9 states, with over 900 employees, 42,000 residents, and 100s of investors!
SNAPSHOTS IN TIME
Cheers to the next 25 Years!