As Senior Vice President of Housing Development, Tish Kelly oversees Jamboree’s housing development – staffing, structure, and processes – and ensures implementation of business and strategic plan goals. She is instrumental in cultivating and managing key internal and external partnerships.

Tish rejoined Jamboree as Vice President, having previously served as Senior Director of Finance, where she notably oversaw the development of our award-winning Compass Rose community in Fullerton. Most importantly, she helped to lay a foundation for Jamboree’s existing housing development team, including hiring, training, and mentoring many of our current Project Managers. In her role as Senior Vice President, she oversees the entire housing development team and helps to implement business and strategic goals as part of the Executive Management Team.

Throughout her distinguished career, Tish has worked in nearly every aspect of the real estate business – market-rate and affordable, development and finance, for-profits and nonprofits – bringing a depth of experience in land acquisition, entitlement, funding sources, and financial structures. Most recently, she served as the Senior Director of Development for Excelerate Housing Group, managing all facets of the development process of affordable housing. Before that, she held positions with Alliant Capital, a national real estate finance and investment firm, and real estate developers Meta Housing Corporation and MacFarlane Costa Housing Partners. Tish believes a key part of her success is a strong commitment to the mission of our work and a focus on the end-result – housing more residents.

Tish returned to Jamboree not only because she supports the company’s community-enriching mission, but also because she believes that work needs to balance with her family values. She appreciates that “Jamboree is a place that values the person as much as it values the employee.” Outside work, Tish spends most of her time with her family. She loves to bike, ski, and travel with her husband, and she enjoys family camping trips, hikes, and weekend barbecues with the kids and Miso, the family’s rescue dog.

Tish received a bachelor’s degree in English and criminal justice at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, and holds a master’s degree in real estate development from the University of Southern California.

Guiding principle: Focus on what I can control, and do it well. It serves as a reminder to stick to my moral compass and not get sucked in by the noise or confusion of the moment.