Ryan Iwanaga is Co-Founder and Chief Experience Officer of Sereno Christie's International Real Estate, the San Francisco Bay Area's largest independently owned and operated residential real estate brokerage. As the Chief Experience Officer, Ryan oversees the development and preservation of Sereno's founding culture while also managing the internal day to day operations of the brokerage.
Along with his childhood best friend, Chris Trapani, the company's fellow Co-Founder & CEO, the duo opened Sereno in July of 2006. The brokerage has grown from its original 27 founding Realtors in Los Gatos to over 550 Realtors serving the greater Bay Area.
During that time, Ryan has focused on the cultural development and sustainment of Sereno's values-based mission. He has worked to balance the sometimes conflicting pulls of growth and expansion with the necessity of maintaining the organization's cultural centeredness.
Ryan's leadership sensibilities reflect a Realtor mindset and an understanding of the complexities and challenges of residential real estate sales as a whole. He is a true industry insider whereby the foundation of his leadership philosophy and approach is rooted in his experiences as a working agent.
Ryan is excited and looking forward to introducing the incredible Christie's International Real Estate luxury brand to Sereno and to also be working with the amazing leadership team at @propreties. He believes Sereno's alignment with Christie's International Real Estate and @properties represents the next natural step in the company's evolution and provides unprecedented opportunity for Sereno's Realtors, clients, and the communities it serves.
As a fourth generation Santa Clara county resident, the importance of responsibility and accountability to the community were impressed upon him from a very young age. That community-mindedness has informed his career since he entered the industry in 1997.
Before real estate, Ryan earned a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Oregon before working toward a PhD in English and Creative Writing at the University of Houston. He ultimately decided to leave academia and start his career in real estate after his daughter, Keats, was born.
Ryan currently lives in San Jose with his wife, Meena, and son, Monroe. Keats, now an adult, lives close by in Santa Cruz.
