Gary Keller

Co-founder and Chairman of the Board

As chairman of the board of Keller Williams Realty, Gary Keller is responsible for providing strategic direction for the company. Keller established Keller Williams Realty with partner Joe Williams in 1983. The company began franchising in 1991 and expanded to Canada in 1998, and has become the fourth "largest and fastest" growing residential real estate company in North America with sales and commissions growth topping 700 percent since 1995.

Based on his leadership qualities and contributions to the real estate industry, Keller was voted as one of the five "Most Admired People" in a survey conducted by REAL Trends Magazine in 2000. He also was named Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for Central Texas and dubbed the second most influential person in the real estate industry by REALTOR® Magazine in 2003. In 2004, he was a finalist for Inc. Magazine's Entrepreneur of the Year award.

In 2006, Inman News named Keller in their list of the 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders. The Wall Street Journal named Keller Williams Realty to its elite "Franchise High Performers" list in 2006, and the franchise is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine in several categories, including ranking No. 66 in the Franchise 500® and as the No. 52 fastest-growing franchise.

Keller has co-authored two nationally best-selling books – The Millionaire Real Estate Agent and The Millionaire Real Estate Investor – which have enjoyed numerous weeks on BusinessWeek's best seller list and an appearance on the best seller list of the New York Times.

A lifelong learner, Keller is also a student and passionate music lover. He has taken guitar lessons for more than 10 years from the Austin School of Music and collects Gibson®'s ES-335 vintage guitars.

Mo Anderson

Vice Chairman

 

Vice Chairman Mo Anderson is the driving force behind Keller Williams Realty's culture of family. She established her first real estate office, a Century 21 franchise, in Edmond, Okla., in 1975; soon after, it was the third top-producing office out of 7,500 Century 21 locations in North America. In 1986 Mo sold her company to Merrill Lynch Realty, where she served as a district vice president until December 1989.

In 1991, Anderson became the first Keller Williams franchisee outside of the state of Texas when she persuaded Gary to expand his profit share concept for real estate offices. In 1992, she landed the regional director role for Oklahoma and became the co-owner of two Keller Williams market centers in that state.

In 1995, Keller put forth a call to all his regional directors to help him find a new top executive for the company. In January 1995, Keller's extensive search came to an end when Anderson became president and CEO of Keller Williams Realty, with Keller stepping up to the position of chairman of the board. With the appointment of Mark Willis as president in 2002 and then CEO in 2005, Anderson now serves as the vice chairman for the company. Today, her focus is on cultivating the unique culture of Keller Williams Realty by traveling across the United States and Canada visiting market centers and teaching classes.

A tireless supporter of community causes, Anderson founded KW Cares in 2003 to assist company associates and their families in need and raised millions for Hurricane Katrina relief. Anderson has been named twice as Oklahoma's Women in Business Advocate of the Year by the U.S. Small Business Administration. She is also listed in Who's Who in American Women and was one of 10 women profiled in Body and Soul (Hill Publishing). Most recently she was nominated for REALTOR® Magazine's 2006 Good Neighbor Award, and named one of the magazine's Top 25 Most Influential People in Real Estate.

Anderson serves or has served on the boards of Edmond Memorial Hospital, the Francis Tuttle Vo-Tech Foundation and the Daily Living Center.

Mark Willis

CEO

 

Mark Willis was named chief executive officer (CEO) of Keller Williams Realty International in 2005. With growth always his focus, Willis works to ensure that Keller Williams Realty continues to attract and retain the best real estate professionals in the industry. When he became president of the company in 2002, the company had 14,000 associates. Today, the company boasts more than 73,000 associates in over 600 market centers.

 
Prior to joining Keller Williams Realty in 1991, Willis was a branch manager for Coldwell Banker. He also owned his own real estate company, Carriage House Realty, in the mid-1980s. As team leader of Keller Williams Realty's Southwest market center in Austin, Texas, Willis quadrupled the market center's production over a five-year period, making it the number one real estate office in the Keller Williams system. In 1997, Willis became regional director for Central and South Texas and quickly expanded the region's presence in San Antonio and Houston, eventually building a 1,900-agent business in the process — earning him a place in REAL Trends' Billionaire's Club.

Mary Tennant

President and COO

Mary Tennant was recruited by the executive team to come on board as Keller Williams Realty International's chief operations officer (COO) in 2006. Chosen by the executive team because of her "genius at building teams and developing efficiencies in staff and office operations," Tennant oversees all the franchise headquarters' operations and is responsible for ensuring that the fastest-growing real estate company in North America continues to provide its signature training and support to more than 73,000 associates.

Tennant began her real estate career with Keller Williams Realty Inc. in 1992. Claiming National Rookie of the Year her very first year, Tennant quickly rose in the company ranks, taking on leadership and ownership roles at both local and regional levels. As the team leader of the Austin Southwest market center, she increased the real estate office's annual closed volume sales from $90 million to $1.3 billion within eight years. The Southwest market center remains the number one real estate office in the world in the number of closed units.

David Therrien

Chief Technology Officer

As chief technology officer (CTO) and an active member of Keller Williams Realty's technology and research group, David Therrien is responsible for the research, development and integration of technology tools with corporate strategy. Therrien provides the strategic direction for the information technology division of Keller Williams Realty International, and works closely with the Associate Technology Council (ATC), which is an associate-led council that provides the strategic direction for the company's technology initiatives.

Therrien began his career in real estate in the mid-1990s, after retiring from the U.S. Navy as a cryptology and communications officer. After six and a half years at RE/MAX, Therrien joined Keller Williams Realty in 2004. His real estate business, the Dave Therrien Group, hit $13 million in production within one year. He attributes his production success to technology and International in particular, the way he and his team responded to Internet-generated leads on potential clients.

Ann Yett

Chief Financial Officer

Ann Yett signed on as Keller Williams Realty International chief financial officer (CFO) in 2006. As CFO, Yett is responsible for overseeing all financial, accounting and tax functions and has taken the lead in enhancing financial reporting systems and controls for annual budgets, forecasts and cash management.

Prior to joining Keller Williams Realty Yett was a certified public accountant (CPA) at the executive and consulting level and was responsible for crafting the strategic directions for companies of all sizes within a wide range of industries.