Servant-leadership at MorningStar

Offering independent living, assisted living & memory care, MorningStar is privileged to elevate life for those who taught the rest of us how to live.

Ken Jaeger founded MorningStar Senior Living on a basic, but profound truth: to honor God in all aspects of our business practices and relationships, which transcends to a superior quality of life for MorningStar’s residents. With a principled approach and adherence to our original mission, MorningStar has enjoyed prodigious growth since inception. As a reflection of that success, Ken was named a recipient of the prestigious EY Entrepreneur Of The Year 2016 award in the Mountain Desert region in the Healthcare and Lifesciences category.
    Ken brings over 25 years of operational experience in the senior living industry, including successful startups, acquisitions, turnaround of distressed properties and multi-site leadership. Earlier in his career, he held executive level positions where he was responsible for operating 50 communities in the western United States. From 1998 to 2002, Ken served as
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Matt and Ken were drawn to each other as much by their complementary skills and experience as by their shared calling to serve seniors as they serve the poor in developing nations. (More on that at MorningStarSeniorLiving.com, Serving Globally.)
    Their united efforts have propelled MorningStar to national prominence as a brand that is successfully blending margin and mission. The platform has become a fully integrated developer, owner and operator of first-class senior living communities.
    Matt now serves as Managing Partner of MorningStar and Ovation, MorningStar’s affiliated real estate investment and development arm, which he founded in 2011. Under his leadership, the portfolio has grown to over 30 properties in the western half of the U.S., comprising over 4,000 units for independent and assisted living and memory care.
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Joe Mikalajunas credits his maternal grandparents with his life calling. “There is little doubt that my love for seniors started with my love for them. They instilled in me a deep respect and admiration for older adults.” They taught me that seniors have much to give back to the generations that follow them.
    Thus inspired, it was important for Joe to find a senior living company that mirrored those core values in its day-to-day practices. “MorningStar is such a company, one that lives and breathes service. Whether it is service to seniors, service to each other, or service to God, MorningStar nurtures a culture where team members have the opportunity to make a positive difference in people and the world around them.”
    Joe brings over 22 years of operational experience to MorningStar, beginning
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Born and raised in Southern California, Jamie Ranzan is Chief Financial Officer of MorningStar Senior Living. With the support of her husband and two children, Jamie enthusiastically relocated to Colorado in 2016 to join MorningStar’s mission. Her objective was to be part of a senior housing company that aligned with her core values and held to the foundational principle of honoring God, and to be part of a team that provides the best care possible for seniors.
    Jamie is quick to credit her grandparents for the formation of her character. From these beloved seniors did she discover a greater calling, that of serving with passion and compassion. Through Grandmother Jane’s 10-year struggle with Alzheimer’s, Jamie learned keenly how devastating this disease is to the entire family. Not a day goes by in which she doesn’t draw inspiration from the amazing soul who was (and is) Jane Riley.
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Ann Esposito’s 35-year career in senior living first took shape as a small child when she began a tender relationship with a frail couple who lived next door. “I would visit the O’Briens often, and we became the best of friends. I liked their sweets, their stories, and their style of dress, grammar and hospitality. What better teachers could a six-year-old have? And I knew I was bringing them ‘magic’ by the way they lit up when I walked through their door.”
    Ann’s first experience with hands-on personal care was as a soldier assigned to working with military vets at Sam Houston Hospital in San Antonio. Immediately upon honorable discharge, she enrolled in one of the country’s first university-level programs for the care of older adults at Kent State, earning her B.A degree in Gerontology.
    In the years that followed, she invested her skills as a senior executive in Skilled Nursing Facilities; Acute Rehabilitation Hospitals; Behavioral Health
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Brandon Lesniak joined MorningStar in 2017 as Senior Vice President of Investments, bringing 14 years of senior living experience in development, acquisitions, capital structuring, underwriting and asset management. In his career, he’s operated and/or managed over $4 billion of real estate assets, 500+ communities and 15+ developments across the US.
    “I want to be part of more than a thriving business enterprise. My personal values insist upon it. MorningStar is on such a course. The company makes its priorities clear; upfront, it’s about honoring God. The mission of MorningStar is lived out with authenticity and integrity. It’s put into action. That’s rare, and that struck me at my core.”
    His introduction to senior living started with HCR-ManorCare working in marketing and operations at the communities before expanding to a regional role throughout the Midwest. “While I enjoyed the business model of
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