Kari Anderson & Tali Reiner

As Washington Multi-Family Housing Association (WMFHA) celebrates 20 years as  the states most trusted multi-family voice, founding Board President Kari Anderson and current Board President Tali Reiner share their journey into multi-family leadership and celebrate  the many leaders and association accomplishments that helped pave the way. 

 Kari Anderson was the first Board President when WMFHA was chartered into the National Apartment Association in June 2003, 20 years ago. But as she reflected on the last two decades of working with the association, she said the real work started a year prior.

To establish the Washington charter, the association needed 30,000 units in its membership. Kari recalls there was no staff, just volunteers dedicated to recruiting members and building momentum for the new association. Now 20 years later, WMFHA has increased its membership tenfold, with currently over 324,000 units, and has grown internally as well, with 10 full-time staff members that help manage and administrate the day-to-day needs of the multi-family industry

Having served two terms as Board President and multiple terms as a Board Member, Kari resigned from the Board earlier this year but still is a member-at-large. When asked if she had any advice for current Board President Tali, Kari said her time as Board President felt like a whole different association.  

“When I was president, it was a different day. The bulk of the skill set was being able to sell our product: membership to WMFHA. Now the product is self-sustaining; it’s an empire.” Kari explains. “I can only stand back and be proud of all that has changed. Tali naturally escalates the professionalism of the association and now I am just happy to watch WMFHA grow.”  

Tali said that for many years, she was a “casual member”. It wasn’t until the 2010 Emerald Awards that she was inspired to volunteer more time to the association. Tali received an award for her work as a regional manager and Kari received the WMFHA Lifetime Achievement Emerald Award that same year. She was the first woman recipient of the honor.  

“Kari was someone I had admired from a distance. We had never worked together before, but she had always been a pillar within the industry,” Tali said. “When Greg [Cerbana] came to the stage to give a speech on her career achievements, I thought to myself, ‘That’s a woman who’s really had an incredible, positive impact on a lot of people’. That’s when I started to look into involvement with WMFHA and decided to nominate myself to the Board.” 

Not only has WMFHA grown since Tali joined the Board, her time as a volunteer has sharpened her professional skills. Though the Board has faced challenges in years past, she has learned from them and is excited about the associations’ future.  

For those looking to enter the world of multi-family housing and property management, both Kari and Tali agree that even though most people come into the industry by chance, most stay because of how rewarding it is to work with the people and grow a career from the ground up.   

Tali believes that the industry is ripe with opportunity to grow, noting her path starting as a temporary worker, climbing her way up to the director level and eventually being named executive vice president at her current company, Security Properties Residential. She says she was always encouraged to move at her own pace and felt supported when she took that next step.

 “My path has been so clear, mostly in part to the women leaders guiding me through the first few years,” she said. “I’m grateful there have not been crazy barriers to finding success in my career.” 

 Throughout the conversation, both women continuously praised each other and their work for WMFHA and named several others who have supported their careers thus far.  

“Through all the ups and downs I’ve had as a WMFHA Board Member, Vice President and now President, Kari always answers the phone when I call,” Tali said. “For young women, my advice is to keep the people who always answer the phone in your corner. They will be the ones who truly care.” 

As WMFHA President, Tali will now look to continue the legacy that Kari and the rest of the founding members of WMFHA built over the last 20 years.  She has the unique opportunity to inspire a new generation of multi-family industry leaders, as was the case for Kari.