We are a people-first company

Since launching Cecilian Partners in 2019, John has led the company from early concept to national scale, raising nearly $20 million in growth capital, securing multiple patents, and earning accolades including the Inc. 5000, Inc. Best Workplaces, and Fast Company’s Best Workplaces for Innovators. Today, Cecilian’s team powers four SaaS products purpose-built for community developers and homebuilders across the U.S. and Canada.

John brings the operational discipline of an experienced leader and the resilience of an entrepreneur to every endeavor. Before founding Cecilian Partners, he spent seventeen years scaling global lifestyle brands—including Abercrombie & Fitch, AllSaints, Michael Kors, Quiksilver, Under Armour, and Rapha—leading teams, driving growth, and managing more than $150 million in revenue across major regions.

A lifelong endurance athlete, John has completed multiple Ironman competitions and countless cycling events, believing that the same mindset that drives success on the course—consistency, resilience, and heart—is what drives great companies. He and his wife, Jennifer, are also the founders of Three Pigs Farm, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to animal rescue and rehabilitation.

John holds an MBA in Systems Thinking and Global Finance from Villanova University and a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Psychology from Duquesne University. An active member of the Urban Land Institute, he serves on the Community Development Council (CDC) Silver.

As co-founder & Chief Product Officer, Phil is responsible for Cecilian Partners' client partnerships, strategy, and product. He is the official "client whisperer" and is deeply involved in creating and maintaining client partnerships that drive innovation and lasting value. He also works closely with John to map the future industry environment and set the long-term direction of product, positioning, and investment for the business.

Phil has over 15 years of client advisory and digital innovation / product experience. He started his career with Accenture, working with clients like Microsoft, Marriott, Facebook, Johnson Controls and many others building digital businesses and long-term innovation and growth strategies. That diverse experience across industries, sectors, and topics helps inform Cecilian Partners' uniquely effective approach to product and client service.

Phil holds degrees in Mathematical Economics and Management from Rice University and the London School of Economics. He is an active member of Urban Land Institute and serves on the CDC Blue Product Council.

Jennifer brings over 15 years of experience in commercial finance, banking, and real estate, having held leadership roles at Wells Fargo and DLL Group—a $45B Netherlands-based global asset finance company—where she managed a $200M healthcare portfolio and rose from Global Management Trainee to Senior Program Manager.

Jennifer originally joined Cecilian Partners in 2020 as SVP of Finance, with no initial plan to become part of the business her husband (John) co-founded. But with her deep experience in financial operations and a passion for real estate, Jennifer quickly became indispensable. Since then, she has helped lead the firm’s capital strategy, raising nearly $20M in growth equity, while building trust with clients, shareholders, and investors alike.

Today, Jennifer serves as both COO and CFO, where she oversees all internal operations, client delivery, and financial performance. Her role uniquely bridges the front-end customer experience—through oversight of Delivery and Customer Success—and the back-end financial rigor of billing, AR, and strategic planning.

Jennifer is also a licensed real estate agent with Addison Wolfe in New Hope, PA, and the co-founder of Three Pigs Farm, a 501(c)(3) animal sanctuary dedicated to creating a haven for rescued farm animals. A lifelong athlete, Jennifer is a marathoner, outdoors enthusiast, and proud mother of two.

Her diverse background and operational leadership continue to drive Cecilian Partners forward as one of the most innovative companies in residential real estate technology.

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Holly is a seasoned operator and people-centered leader with more than 25 years of experience spanning retail, financial services, and technology. Her career has taken her from the front lines of customer experience to the strategic core of multi-billion-dollar organizations—including CSC, Firstrust Bank, and several high-growth retail environments, giving her a rare cross-functional fluency and an intuitive grasp of how businesses run, scale, and evolve.

Holly’s expertise lies at the intersection of people, process, and performance. She’s led teams of hundreds, navigated matrixed organizations, and driven transformation efforts that cut across departments, disciplines, and operating models. Her deep understanding of how to build and lead high-performing teams, whether in a fast-paced retail setting or a tightly regulated financial institution, makes her uniquely equipped to bring order to chaos, structure to scale, and heart to operations.

As Chief of Staff at Cecilian Partners, Holly is the connective tissue across teams, priorities, and people. She drives clarity, accelerates decision-making, and ensures that strategy translates into action without losing sight of culture or the human element. Her ability to zoom in on operational detail while zooming out to see the big picture makes her an indispensable partner to the executive team and a steadying presence across the company.

Above all, Holly believes that the best-run businesses are people-first businesses. Her career reflects a consistent throughline: investing in others, unlocking potential at every level, and fostering environments where teams can do their best work.

Heidi Birchall brings more than a decade of global experience across the travel, hospitality, and loyalty sectors to her role as Head of Product. Her career has been defined by designing and launching technology-driven platforms that deepen customer relationships and turn complex ecosystems into seamless experiences.

Prior to joining Cecilian, Heidi led the orchestration and rollout of custom CRM and loyalty platforms for some of the world’s most recognized hospitality brands, including Jumeirah Group, Etihad Airlines, Emaar Hospitality Group, and Marriott. Her work spans product strategy, platform development, and large-scale partner ecosystems, giving her a rare, real-world understanding of what makes customer engagement programs truly work.

Heidi now leads the Customer Blueprint product team, shaping the company’s approach to resident and community engagement. She is focused on building products that don’t just solve today’s problems, but anticipate what developers, builders, and residents will need next. This ensures Cecilian’s platform remains both practical and future-ready.

Known for her ability to balance strategic vision with execution, Heidi plays a central role in advancing Cecilian’s mission to elevate the homebuying and living experience through clarity, thoughtful design, and technology that delivers lasting value.

As Head of Client Innovation (Design & Product Expert), Katie brings over fifteen years of residential development and placemaking expertise to Cecilian Partners. She learned about land use while studying political science at Utah State University, fell in love with the field, and hasn’t looked back.

Katie’s career started helping builders and developers at the city planning level before joining one of the nation’s largest homebuilders. Most recently, she was part of the development team at Daybreak, RCLCO’s #5 best-selling MPC in 2020. While at Daybreak she worked with builder teams on thousands of design review submittals, implemented several new pattern books, collaborated in multiple design charrettes, and project managed over $30 million of open space and park planning. She added HOA knowledge to the mix as a member of the Daybreak Master Association Board of Directors and as Chair of the Daybreak Architectural Design Review Committee.

Katie’s passion for real estate extends far beyond just MPCs. She has spent much of her career striving to help diversify the voices in our industry. Her dedication to the cause is underscored by her service in a variety of roles including President of the Board of Directors for CNU-Utah, Chair of ULI Utah’s DEI Committee, and on the Utah Housing Preservation Fund’s Advisory Board. Katie is thrilled to share her experience, multi-faceted perspective on new urban topics, and excitement for the future of development with Cecilian’s clients

Off-hours, her curiosity, and energy hit the road. Whether staying in a defunct research habitat turned underwater hotel, eating street food in Bangkok, or hiking in Zion National Park, traveling with her family is Katie’s favorite way to recharge.

As Chief Technical Account Manager, Todd brings nearly a decade of master planned community development experience to Cecilian Partners. Through his time spent at Republic Property Group, he witnessed first-hand the complexities of the industry and provides direct MPC experience to Cecilian Partners’ clients. Todd has been involved with The XO since its beginnings, playing an integral role in the entire implementation process.

During his time at Cecilian Partners, Todd has led the onboarding and deployment of The XO for each of Cecilian Partners’ large-scale master planned communities, including the discovery, training, and ongoing customer success for each project. He personally has trained hundreds of users across dozens of homebuilder teams around the country.

Todd has applied his curious nature to learn how to solve complex problems in the MPC industry. His experience at Republic Property Group allowed him the opportunity to deeply understand the challenges developers face when trying to shape the journey of would-be home buyers and how they can utilize technology to help solve the customer journey.

Todd holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business Economics from the University of Texas. He is an active member of the Urban Land Institute and is currently involved regionally through the ULI Chicago.

Jessica Kerrigan is a strategic marketing leader with a track record of helping companies clarify their message, deepen customer trust, and drive purposeful growth. At Cecilian Partners, she leads the firm’s marketing function with a focus on building an impactful brand and effective go-to-market strategies through content, campaigns, and narratives that reflect not just what the company does, but why it matters to those it serves.

She brings years of experience across industries—including higher education, fintech, law, motorsports, and retail—and across company sizes, from lean startups to enterprise-level firms. Prior to joining Cecilian, she helped tech firms including SEI and GTS sharpen their brand and product positioning around what their customers truly value. Her approach is grounded in empathy, insight, and a relentless focus on the end user.

Jessica’s built a reputation for aligning marketing to strategy and strategy to impact. She blends creative insight with analytical rigor, using data to shape pipeline strategies, refine audience targeting, and ensure every initiative supports meaningful business outcomes. Whether planning a product launch or a content strategy, her goal is always the same: to put the customer first and make complexity feel simple.

Jessica holds an Executive MBA from the Villanova School of Business and a BA in Environmental Science & Policy from Clark University. A lifelong writer and learner, she finds joy in storytelling, clarity in strategy, and purpose in work that drives impact.

Mark Hunt brings more than 15 years of full-stack software engineering experience to his role as our Director of Engineering. His work is driven by a belief that small, strategic improvements in software architecture and reliability create impact at scale by improving user experiences, cost efficiencies, and system performance.

Prior to joining Cecilian, Mark led engineering teams and platforms across highly complex and regulated industries including healthcare, governance, cannabis, and proptech. He has guided products through multiple acquisitions, and helped scale early-stage technology into enterprise systems used by nonprofit organizations around the world. Across roles at BoardEffect, Aidin, and Dutchie, he was trusted to modernize legacy platforms, solve demanding compliance challenges, and build software that performs under real-world pressure.

Today, Mark oversees engineering across Cecilian's product suite, with a focus on speed, stability, and long-term scalability. He’s known not only for his technical depth, but for cultivating collaborative, agile teams and an environment where engineers can do their best work. Mark's leadership is central to ensuring Cecilian’s tech performs, endures, and delivers real value to our customers.

Abby Drum brings over 10 years of experience in customer success, delivery, and technical program leadership to her role as Head of Customer Success and Delivery. Known for her ability to bridge strategy, technology, and relationships, Abby plays a central role in helping our clients see measurable value from our platforms, starting day one.

With a background spanning SaaS delivery, technical account management, and customer operations, Abby has built her career at the intersection of customer needs and product execution. She has an innate talent for translating complex requirements into clear plans, aligning internal teams around shared outcomes, and guiding clients through change with confidence. Working closely with product, engineering, and delivery teams has given her a practical, hands-on understanding of how feedback turns into progress.

At Cecilian, Abby oversees client onboarding, platform adoption, and long-term account health across some of the industry’s most sophisticated developers and builders. She’s trusted by our clients as a steady, strategic partner, and by internal teams as a leader who brings clarity, structure, and empathy to complex initiatives. 

Abby’s been recognized internally for her impact on both clients and team culture. We know she believes the best delivery work is built on trust, collaboration, and accountability—and that strong relationships are just as important as strong tech.

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Allison has a wealth of experience in real estate and technology. From running events that brought builders and technology partners together to explore innovative solutions, to helping builders across the United States reimagine their digital experience for prospects, she's passionate about changing the customer experience for home buyers.

At Cecilian Partners, Allison is dedicated to helping clients get the most out of our technology. She trains builder and developer users, helps clean and transform data, and brainstorms new ideas to make sure our customers aren't just buying software, but getting a technology partner that works.

Khari is a multi-dimensional creative executive with 20 years of experience in brand development, people, and cultural leadership. He was a key contributor in the North American expansion of several iconic brands including Apple, Mulberry, AllSaints, and The Kooples. Khari has built industry leading teams from the ground up throughout his career. He understands the value and importance of delivering an elevated and impactful brand experience both for the employee and consumer. Above all he champions brand culture and experience at the highest level. Ultimately, Khari’s passion resides in supporting people and organizations to discover purpose so they may reach their full potential.

In August of 2018, Khari launched his personal passion, The 333. The 333 is a lifestyle brand with a modern approach to living a more conscious and mindful existence. The 333 creates unique immersive experiences and product ranges with the intention to raise the vibration of collective consciousness. Khari believes that by creating more opportunities for people to experience the world through the lens of love, unity, authenticity, and sustainability we can improve social impact and begin to evolve as a global community.

In her role as Senior Account Executive, Meredith Denton leverages her background in finance, real estate, and data analysis to support thoughtful, informed client partnerships. Her experience across commercial real estate, fintech, and SaaS has given her an analytical approach that’s grounded in understanding how businesses operate and grow.

Before joining Cecilian, Meredith worked with a range of institutional and enterprise organizations through roles at firms including JLL and fintech startup Concertiv. Her experience includes product management, usability testing, and contributing to the development of an internal vendor and contract management platform. This gives her a strong foundation in both the technical and commercial sides of software. She has also worked with globally recognized organizations and investment firms, helping her develop a clear, confident approach to working with sophisticated stakeholders.

Here at Cecilian, Meredith works closely with builders and developers to understand their goals and help them navigate complex challenges with confidence. She’s known for taking the time to listen, asking the right questions, and building strong, trusted relationships. We love that Meredith is deeply invested in our customers’ success and brings a steady, thoughtful presence to every partnership.

With a background in residential architecture, Jackson brings a unique skillset to the Cecilian team at the intersection of data and real estate. His work prior to Cecilian Partners centered on data, analytics, dashboards, and reports for the dynamic and complex real estate market in Chicago, IL. He brings an important design perspective to Cecilian, helping our clients streamline the reporting process and draw insights from the real-time data they get out of The XO, Parcel IQ, and the suite of Cecilian Partners' products.

Jackson attended the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, Illinois. He has a bachelor’s degree in Architecture and certifications in Tableau, SQL, and Python from Codeacademy and Coursera. In his free time, Jackson enjoys exploring the Chicago vintage scene and trying new restaurants.

Brad Balda is known for having a process-driven, consultative mindset in his role as our Solutions Architect. With a background rooted in operational efficiency, CRM design, and cross-functional collaboration, he specializes in translating complex business needs into clear, scalable solutions that work in the real world.

Throughout his career, Brad has focused on improving how teams work. Most notably, he led the design and launch of a company-wide CRM platform that transformed internal collaboration and supported meaningful sales growth. His experience working with well-known brands like Crescent Tools, Builders FirstSource, YETI, and Lockheed Martin honed his ability to navigate complex organizations and understand how different teams, data, and systems need to work together.

Here at Cecilian, Brad works closely with delivery, engineering, and internal teams to help implementations run smoothly and keep projects moving forward. His role focuses on clarifying requirements, improving handoffs, and supporting teams as they apply our platforms in real-world client environments. Brad has also helped lead the charge in exploring practical uses of AI and automation to streamline internal workflows and customer-facing processes. He’s focused on what actually works, prioritizing practical solutions that teams can use and trust.

As our Finance Manager, Matt Bevilacqua plays a key role in keeping Cecilian’s financial operations running smoothly and transparently. Having grown with the company from AP/AR Specialist to his current role, he has a deep understanding of our business, customers, and internal workflows.

Matt built a strong foundation in accounting and financial operations through previous roles in underwriting management and claims coordination. His experience managing collections, payments, and financial documentation gave him a highly detail-oriented, steady approach with a focus on accuracy and clear communication. 

At Cecilian, Matt focuses on keeping customers informed and confident about their invoices and account status, taking care to provide context and clarity. That thoroughness goes a long way in building trust, and it reflects Matt’s belief that good finance work isn’t just about numbers, but about communication and accountability. Above all, he’s become a trusted resource to our team, known for showing up reliably, consistently, and collaboratively as we grow.

As our Group EA and Office Manager, Jessica Foster has a central role in keeping our office and our company running smoothly. With a background rooted in people-focused work (including roles in childcare, education, and social services), Jess brings strong communication skills, initiative, and a natural ability to anticipate needs across the organization.

She joined Cecilian during a period of rapid growth and quickly became a trusted support for our entire team. From jumping in to help with company-wide initiatives like The Innovative 50 and All Hands events, to taking ownership of everyday operational details, Jess steps in where help is needed and follows through. Whether it’s managing office logistics or streamlining admin tasks, she takes pride in getting things off other people’s plates.

Much of Jess’s impact comes from the small, often unseen work that makes a big difference. By keeping the office organized, stocked, and functional, she helps our teams stay focused on their work. She’s also continuously looking for ways to improve how the office supports collaboration, including creating quieter shared spaces for meetings and training. Jess is a true team player that we rely on, appreciate, and are genuinely grateful to work alongside.

Jon Rapp brings deep technical breadth and a calm, problem-solving mindset to his role as Principal Engineer. With experience spanning frontend and backend development, infrastructure, developer tooling, and large-scale systems, Jon is known for his ability to quickly understand complex environments and design solutions that hold up in the real world.

Prior to Cecilian, Jon worked at Amazon Web Services and Dropbox, where he helped build and scale software used by tens of thousands of customers. At AWS, he played a key role in leading the design and launch of a new service within AWS Support, owning critical components from planning through execution and navigating tight timelines and cross-team dependencies. The service launched successfully and remains in use today. It’s a direct reflection on Jon’s ability to deliver under pressure without sacrificing quality.

Jon serves as a technical anchor for our engineering team, helping tackle the hardest problems when challenges arise. While deeply technical, he’s just as focused on how decisions show up for the end user. Unlike many engineers, Jon brings a customer-first lens to architecture, performance, and usability. As he says, “You can build the most technically perfect piece of software, but if users don't enjoy using it, then it was all for nothing.”

A graduate of Seton Hall University, Luke holds a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences and is currently employed at Cecilian Partners as our Director of Visual Services. While at Seton Hall, Luke focused on research as he pursued his degree in History. “The work is a bit different, but it’s an exciting and promising market,” Luke said when asked about the growing MPC market. Luke is excited to work with Cecilian Partners and says it's been an “absolute privilege and pleasure to be working with such an intelligent and motivated team.”

James Kelsey is a self taught fullstack developer who is well versed in the full range of technology we use to build our applications. James has a passion for building tools to make work faster and smarter. He cut his teeth working on small programs with a large impact for data processing in his roles in the Navy.

He served in the US Navy for more than 20 years as an aircraft maintainer and leader. Most recently, he served on board the USS Essex leading a team of over 100 Sailors. He has fought actual fires and flooding at sea, so he's no stranger to adapting quickly and thinking on his feet.

He joins us from Hillsboro, Oregon where he lives with his wife, two children, and a dog.

Tristan Zimmerman brings discipline, adaptability, and a strong sense of teamwork to his role as Junior Software Engineer. With a background in the U.S. Marine Corps and formal training in full-stack software engineering, he approaches his work with focus and a commitment to continuous improvement.

Tristan’s time in the Marine Corps taught him how to adapt quickly in fast-moving, high-pressure environments and contribute as part of a small, mission-driven team. He also learned Persian Farsi, completed his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, earned a Joint Service Commendation Medal, and built relationships that continue to shape how he works today. He later completed Code Platoon’s Full-Stack Software Engineering program, which helped prepare him to step into a product-focused engineering role.

In his day-to-day work at Cecilian, Tristan supports the development and refinement of products like Lot Vault, focusing on thoughtful improvements to usability, security, and code quality. He takes feedback from customers and teammates seriously, knowing even small changes can significantly improve the user experience. Simply put, Tristan genuinely cares about making our software better for the people who rely on it.

As a Junior Software Engineer, Tyler plays a central role in the development and ongoing evolution of our flagship platform, The XO. As the primary engineer on The XO, he handles feature development, system maintenance, and operational support, working closely with the engineering team to ensure the platform remains stable, scalable, and aligned with product goals.

Tyler works across the full technology stack, supporting backend systems, frontend experiences, and infrastructure workflows using technologies including Django, Vue, React, and C#. He collaborates closely with our product and customer success teams to translate real-world client needs into practical solutions. He also contributes to internal projects and supports services across Cecilian’s broader product ecosystem.

Before transitioning into software engineering, Tyler served in the U.S. Navy as a Second Class Petty Officer, working as a diesel technician within the engineering department. In that role, he supervised work centers and managed training and operational readiness, which helped shape his skill at navigating complex interconnected systems and his problem-solving abilities. A self-taught developer and graduate of Code Platoon, he brings a high-energy, collaborative mindset to his work and is driven by finding root causes, fixing problems the right way, and making the platform better for the teams and customers who rely on it. What we love most about Tyler: his positive attitude, no matter the challenge.

Chase Emerick has nearly 20 years of experience across manual testing, QA automation, and multiple software development lifecycles. As our QA Analyst, he approaches quality with a strong user-first mindset and a deep respect for getting things right.

Chase’s career includes work with organizations such as Electronic Arts, the U.S. Navy, and LSU, where he developed his foundation in fast-paced, high-stakes environments. Early in his career, he was a manual tester at EA and later taught himself QA automation, contributing to features that ultimately shipped in products like Madden 09. His experience across different teams and workflows gives him a practical understanding of how quality fits into the full development lifecycle.

At Cecilian, Chase advocates for the end user by approaching testing from multiple perspectives, whether that’s a typical customer, a power user, or a bad actor. Outside of work, he’s a devoted husband and father of three and leads a Gregorian Chant Schola at his chapel. These roles reinforce his sense of responsibility, service, and care for the people who rely on him.

As our Technical Support Analyst, Caleb Jackson plays a key role in helping customers and internal teams navigate complex technical issues. With a background in networking and supporting high-uptime, mission-critical systems, he’s skilled at troubleshooting complex issues, working directly with data, and explaining what’s happening in clear, plain language that both technical and non-technical people can understand.

Earlier in his career, Caleb supported systems connected to military and healthcare operations, including work with NEXCOM and Naval Health. He’s especially proud of helping evolve a support process from a basic Excel tracker into a fully built Zendesk workflow with automations, improving response times and consistency for both customers and internal teams. 

Here at Cecilian, Caleb is known for building strong client relationships by being responsive, reliable, and easy to work with. He focuses on understanding the full context behind an issue before moving to a solution, which helps our team avoid quick fixes and arrive at better long-term outcomes. He’s also delighted to be working with the team at Lakewood Ranch as a Cecilian client, since that’s where he grew up! After living in five different states and moving more than thirteen times, Caleb learned early on how to adapt quickly and make genuine connections with people – and he’s always been someone others can rely on.

As a Junior Product Analyst, Kate Boroch approaches her work with a user-centered, empathetic perspective shaped by her background as a former teacher. She’s got a natural ability to put herself in our users’ shoes, helping ensure our products are intuitive and easy to understand.

Before transitioning into product, Kate spent her career in education, working with students of varying ages and abilities. That experience sharpened her communication skills and reinforced her solution-focused mindset. She knows that identifying a problem is only the first step; what matters most is how it’s addressed. Today, those skills show up in her work supporting onboarding, improving help documentation for Customer Blueprint, and collaborating with teams to refine how our products are experienced by customers.

Kate is especially proud of making a successful career change into tech, a transition that required persistence, curiosity, and a willingness to continuously learn. She invested time in building new skills through online coursework and hands-on experience, ultimately finding a role (and a company!) that values her unique background. At Cecilian, she’s always thinking about how processes, communication, and product design can be improved, with a steady focus on making life better for our team and our customers.