With a people-first mindset, the Life Properties president Jamin Harkness values his team members and recognizes that their well-being, growth and satisfaction are instrumental to the success of the firm. Prioritizing his team’s needs, Harkness creates a positive work environment that fosters employee loyalty, motivation and productivity. One initiative he implemented is a recurring company-sponsored lunch for which team members can suggest their favorite restaurant. His team-centric approach extends beyond the workforce to the careful management of assets as well as a focus on satisfaction for customers and residents. Accessibility for the disabled is a key priority for Harkness, and he is particularly excited about a playground with accessible play equipment being installed at one of the firm’s properties. Harkness leads a team of more than 250 property management professionals at the Life Properties, the property management arm of Olive Tree Holdings. He is responsible for the overall management and direction of the team and ensuring the smooth functioning of day-to-day operations. He places a strong emphasis on centralization, leveraging new technology to streamline and optimize workflows. An example of this is the utilization of an AI bot named Lisa, which assists in converting incoming traffic into appointments. To help the Life Properties team members at all levels of the organization progress, Harkness and his leadership team created Financial Literacy, a proprietary module-based e-learning course designed to show team members how their roles affect each community’s overall performance. He also spearheaded the Water Warriors program, which focuses on ESG practices, particularly in reducing water consumption across the company’s communities. Recent data derived from the effort indicates a decrease in water consumption by 23.76% since the project’s completion. Outside of work, Harkness is a Duluth City Councilman and past president of the Duluth Cluster Schools Foundation.