From Oma to Us: The Women of Juniper Communities

Oma was a strong woman, ahead of her time, who ran her own business in the 1920s and rode a motorcycle in her 70s. She was always ready to share her laughter, wisdom, and sheer love of life. She lived life to the fullest and raised an amazing family.

So it’s no surprise that her granddaughter Lynne Katzmann followed in her footsteps when she founded Juniper Communities at the age of 32. Nearly 30 years later, Oma’s memory and fierce spirit lives on through Juniper Communities!

Juniper Communities is a place where Lynne’s vision of seniors living in a community honoring the concept of being alive in all seasons of life truly comes to fruition. Oma’s story has become Juniper’s shared inspiration, one that has put Juniper among America’s foremost, long-term care providers. In the process Lynne has also elevated herself and other outstanding women to positions of the highest leadership.

There’s a lot of research about what happens to a company when you put women in leadership positions and on boards of directors. Not every woman is a feminist, but women are good business people. There’s a dynamic that changes; there’s a sensibility. It’s one of the things that happens when women become mothers.

Lynne says, “I didn’t grow up to be a mother, it was not something I saw myself as. I saw myself working and doing other things. Being a mother requires a different sensibility. Including women in decision-making roles at board levels will change the way we set up goals for companies. I think that will have a huge impact on business in America.”

Juniper Communities works with a couple of big vendors, and what Lynne has started to do is simply ask, “Where are the women? How many women do you have in the top leadership team? How many women are on your board?” She’s come pretty close to refusing to do business with some companies that weren’t at least willing to discuss the issue.

Of course, all that talk would mean nothing if she didn’t put her words into action within her own company, and Lynne has done exactly that. Juniper Communities has 18 Executive Directors leading 14 properties (some multi-building campuses) in four states across the country.

Of these, all but one are women. There are seven members on Juniper Communities’ Leadership Team based at the home office, and four are women. The RCE Team responsible for training and mentoring leaders within the individual communities consists of five members, of whom four are women.

Please join us for future editions as we feature the stories of some of these amazing women of Juniper Communities.