The Vice President of Resident Services at Columbia Residential, Jennifer Owens boasts extensive experience in managing supportive services delivery to low to moderate-income families and seniors, ensuring housing stability. She has overseen resident relocation projects focused on preserving affordable housing and developed culturally diverse community-led programs. She is recognized as one of Urban Land Institute Atlanta Women’s Leaders 2021.
In her role at Columbia Residential, Jennifer manages the delivery of services and resources to residents, aiming to maintain housing stability and promote healthy communities. Her team works closely with residents to understand any challenges that may affect their housing or create barriers for growth, such as changes to employment, physical and mental health issues, lack of access to affordable childcare and youth educational programming, and emergency assistance for special needs. Jennifer fosters relationships with community partners to increase access to resources and services, alleviating potential challenges and barriers for residents.
In 2017, Jennifer expanded service delivery by founding Dash and Dwell, LLC, a relocation services entity providing quality relocation services to residents affected by redevelopment or acquisition of their apartment homes. As Founder and CEO, she manages all operations, ensuring compliance with federal and state relocation policies while supporting residents’ comprehensive needs throughout the process. Dash and Dwell has successfully completed nine relocation projects, assisting over 1,700 families and seniors.
In 2022, Jennifer founded Core Connect, Inc., a non-profit entity of Columbia Residential, to extend access to direct financial assistance resources for residents. The organization’s vision is to see every family become financially stable by meeting basic needs, championing affordable housing, and prioritizing education as a pathway to build generational wealth. As Board President, Jennifer establishes the vision and strategic direction of the organization, working to identify an Executive Director to fulfill the mission.
Prior Journey
Jennifer grew up in Massachusetts and has called Atlanta, Georgia home for the past 18 years. She pursued undergraduate studies in Anthropology and International Affairs at the University of New Hampshire, driven by her deep interest in other cultures. This passion led her to serve in the United States Peace Corps in Ecuador as a Public Health Extensionist from 2001 to 2003. Jennifer earned a Masters in Social Work at Georgia State University, with a focus on community organizing and building.
Jennifer’s journey with Columbia Residential began shortly after graduate school when she provided supportive services to residents through a grant at one of their mixed-income housing communities. The Founder and then CEO, Noel Khalil, recognized the importance of providing support to all residents and offered Jennifer the opportunity to develop an internal Resident Services department enhancing the company’s customer service model. This allowed her to leverage her social work and community building background to create widespread impact.
Over the past eleven years, Jennifer has built a a dedicated team of Resident Services professionals serving families and seniors in Georgia, established non-profit partnerships supporting residents in Florida, New Orleans, and Texas, and developed a relocation team providing advisory services to residents during property redevelopment. Additionally, she founded a non-profit entity focused on increasing access to basic needs, education, and housing resources and services for all residents. Jennifer’s work exemplifies her commitment to improving the lives of individuals and families by ensuring access to safe and secure housing.
Columbia Residential
Columbia Residential was founded in 1991 with a mission to develop quality mixed-income housing for families and seniors in areas underserved by the affordable housing industry. Over the years, it has evolved into a fully integrated real estate development and management company, encompassing master planning, development, project management, construction management, and property management disciplines.
The company’s portfolio includes 79 multifamily and senior apartment communities, totalling 9,976 apartment homes. Columbia Residential is dedicated to strengthening neighborhoods by upholding a culture of respect, integrity, character, responsiveness, responsibility, and excellence. These values guide the development of their properties and the relationships they cultivate with residents.
Central to Columbia Residential’s approach is prioritizing listening to and learning from partners, customers, and stakeholders to overcome barriers to development. They are committed to upholding their commitments to the highest standards and reinvesting in communities to ensure their ongoing health and vitality.
Empowering Growth
Jennifer emphasizes her commitment to continuous growth and development as a leader by initiating and creating solutions to challenges faced by her teams. She believes in modeling a proactive and exploratory approach, encouraging her team to feel confident in responding to obstacles in a similar manner. Jennifer acknowledges that many successful leaders have been challenged to solve problems where solutions were not readily available.
For Jennifer, the most satisfying aspect is not just the end product, but rather the process of balancing strategic planning with risk-taking to stretch her professional skills. She finds fulfillment in inspiring others to boldly lead their own career development journey, fostering a culture of growth and empowerment within her team.
Sharing Significance of Patience
Jennifer observes that many of today’s emerging leaders lack patience in investing in themselves. She notes that some individuals choose career paths based on a false sense of expedience, seeking high titles or large salaries without understanding that effective leadership requires a personal journey and macro-level vision gained through long-term experience. She highlights that the expectations of success among emerging leaders can often be grounded in entitlement and self-confidence in completing tasks, rather than possessing the skills to lead others toward a shared vision. Jennifer encourages emerging leaders not to rush for external validation of success but to focus on something they truly believe in, where they have the space to fail, relearn, and make a measurable impact. She advocates for a more holistic approach to leadership development that prioritizes personal growth and long-term vision over short-term gains.
Vision as an Expert
Jennifer acknowledges the significant challenge of affordable housing shortages across the nation and emphasizes the need for reevaluation of how underutilized commercial real estate can be repurposed and redeveloped for residential use. She believes that this approach can increase housing availability in dense areas, limit environmental harm, and make housing more affordable for the growing low to moderate-income population.
In addition to increasing access to affordable housing, Jennifer advocates for greater expansion of funding for resident supportive services by real estate investors and developers. She recognizes that the longevity of housing is directly impacted by the overall health of residents and emphasizes the importance of investing in people, not just the physical structures. Jennifer sees this approach as a full-circle win for the real estate industry, benefiting both residents and investors alike.
Power of Kindness and Professionalism
Jennifer advises individuals starting their careers to always be kind to others and to present themselves in a courteous and professional manner, regardless of their surroundings. She emphasizes that we never know when we might cross paths with someone who could impact our future. Jennifer shares a personal anecdote of being approached by the Founder of Columbia Residential at a local bookstore after he observed her collecting book donations at the store. This impromptu meeting marked the beginning of her ten-year (and counting) career with Columbia. She believes that wonderful opportunities can arise anywhere and at any time, and it is crucial to be present and open to receiving them.
Future Outlook
Jennifer predicts that most companies will, at a minimum, adopt a hybrid schedule where employees work together in the office a few days a week. She believes that human behavior is positively influenced by in-person connection, shared vision, and spontaneous dialogue. Furthermore, company cultures thrive on these characteristics, making office work more beneficial overall for both the company and its employees.
While remote work may allow individuals to cross more items off their to-do lists, Jennifer emphasizes that professional success and growth are not solely about completing tasks. Instead, they involve collectively exploring new ideas, experiencing non-verbal cues from others, engaging in spontaneous conversations with colleagues outside of one’s team, and feeling a part of something shared and bigger than oneself. She underscores the importance of in-person interaction and collaboration in fostering a vibrant and dynamic workplace culture.
Breaking Barriers
Jennifer asserts that, like in many industries, there are ample opportunities for women to grow and lead in the real estate sector. Historically, women have faced societal barriers to reaching leadership positions, but Jennifer observes a positive shift as more women embrace their potential and assert themselves in the industry. She expresses gratitude for this progress and emphasizes the importance of women making space for themselves and others at the c-suite and executive tables. Jennifer believes that by leaning into their greatness, women can continue to break barriers and thrive in leadership roles within the real estate industry.
