Leadership

Darren began his career in the multi-family industry as a lowly resident assistant at Arizona State University. There he learned important leadership lessons like how to win friends and influence people while pouring their beer down the sink.

Prior to starting Portico in 2011, Darren was the Vice President of Operations at Verde Apartment Communities where he oversaw the development of 5,000 construction units throughout the four major MSA’s in Texas. He has supervised the management of over 120,000 units in his career throughout the nation, along with overseeing 100+ new construction projects. During his career, Darren has helped to acquire, build, and manage over 20 billion dollars in multi-family real estate.

Darren holds a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and a Masters of Business Administration from Arizona State University.  His passion remains focused on building the very best teams.

Robyn joined the property management industry in 2007 and has served in various roles both on-site and at the corporate level, including Community Manager, Regional Resource Manager, Regional Property Manager and Director of Training.

Her experience includes direct property oversight of a variety of asset types, along with off-site systems and training support. In her role at Portico, Robyn focuses on supporting property operations, from process implementation to management transitions and everything in between. Currently she oversees multiple support departments including Human Resources, Learning & Development, IT, Systems Support, and Transitions.

Heather presently serves as Vice President, responsible for the comprehensive management of all markets within the Portico portfolio. She has 20 years of experience where she began her multifamily career in 2003 as a Leasing Consultant with EPT Management and later as a Community Manager at several communities in the Lubbock, Dallas and Houston area. She also has served as a District Manager for Camden Property Trust, overseeing Class A and B communities in the Atlanta area.

Heather has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies from Texas Tech University and her passion is building and maintaining great teams.

Kara joined Portico in 2016 and has since been a valuable member of our team. In late 2023, Kara was promoted to Regional Vice President and currently oversees the San Antonio, Austin and Nashville markets. Kara has over 25 years of experience in the multifamily industry which includes new construction, conventional, midrise, repositioning, renovations, BTR and student housing.

In 2017, Kara was honored to be part of the San Antonio Apartment Association Leadership Lyceum program leading her to be nominated and selected to be on the 2021 SAAA Board of Directors. She is now serving her 2nd term on the Board of Directors and has served as Chair on many committees. Kara was nominated for San Antonio Apartment’s Association Regional Manager of the Year in 2021 and 2022. In 2022 she won the title as San Antonio Apartment Association Regional Manager of the Year. In addition, Kara was the recent winner and recipient of the Texas Apartment Association Rita Kirby Regional Manager of the Year for 2023.

Kara attended The University of Texas, San Antonio.

Kelly joined Portico in 2021 and currently serves as Associate Vice President in the DFW area. With over 16 years of experience in the multifamily industry, she began her career as a Property Manager at Post Properties and has also worked at Greystar and Magnolia Property Company.

Kelly is passionate about the industry and quickly became the build to rent expert where she oversees most of the build to rent properties at Portico. She also has a focus on delivering results and building relationships with a diverse group of clients while creating a positive and rewarding experience for our onsite teams.

Yessika joined Portico in 2022 and currently serves as an Associate Vice President in the DFW and East Texas Markets. With over 14 years of experience in the multifamily industry, she has exceled in all roles on the site level, systems and processes, acquisitions and building strong teams as a Regional Director.

Yessika’s expertise is in repositioning sites and renovations, her multifamily experience includes new construction, lease-up, conventional value add and midrise sites. She has a focus on relationship building with her clients and is passionate about the performance of her teams.

Cara Horn joins us as the Associate Vice President for the DFW region, bringing nearly two decades of experience in property management.

Her career began in 2004 as a leasing consultant with JPI in Austin, TX. She then gained valuable expertise with Colonial Properties Trust (REIT), where she worked on both stabilized and lease-up properties. In 2014, Cara transitioned to the DFW market with Berkshire Communities.

Her expertise further expanded into Asset Management at JPI, followed by her role as Regional Manager at RPM Living. Most recently, she managed a portfolio of over 4,000 units at RPM Investments Asset Management, including newly acquired and value-add properties across DFW, Florida, and the Mid-Atlantic regions.

Cara is passionate about building high-performing teams and developing future leaders, with a strong focus on operational excellence and growth in the apartment industry.

She holds a BA in Journalism Broadcast News, with a minor in Political Science, from the University of North Texas.

Amanda joined Portico in 2018 as a Controller and has successfully recruited and lead the Portico accounting team. She has onboarded over 60+ asset portfolio and participated in many department initiatives.

Amanda was recently promoted to Vice President, Accounting where her contributions keep the company working efficiently which includes collaboration with other departments and continuing to lead and train the property accounting team.

Charlie joined Portico in 2022 and has over five years of experience in this field where he most recently was Director of Training and Development at CALCAP Properties. He was also the Performance Manager at Alliance Residential.

He will continue to elevate Portico’s talent and educational offerings utilizing technology, innovative methods, and most importantly leveraging a culture built on forward thinking and altruistic associates.

Charlie is a Niagara University graduate and received his Masters of Applied Leadership and Management (MALM) from Thunderbird School of Global Management.

Michelle Holmes has joined Portico Property Management as the new Director of Marketing.

With over 15 years of marketing experience, Michelle brings extensive expertise and a fresh perspective to our team. Her background includes leading marketing initiatives for top hospitality brands such as Chick-fil-A, James Coney Island, and Smoothie King, showcasing her versatility in brand management and customer engagement.

At Portico, Michelle will guide the marketing team in creating strategic, impactful plans to drive value and ROI for our clients. She is passionate about using the right marketing tactics to achieve success and looks forward to empowering her team to maximize their strengths in pursuit of company and client goals.

We are confident that her leadership will elevate Portico’s marketing efforts and deliver outstanding results for our clients.