Kai’s shared passion for cause-based business and community health work prompted her to launch Placemate in late 2018. As the Co-Founder and Chief Impact Officer, Kai is driven to develop strong tourist communities through achievable housing. She is currently responsible for local government partnerships, employee education, business growth, and program adoption.
Placemate launched in Truckee when Kai moved there from San Francisco in anticipation of a slower pace of life and a smaller community feel. Quickly experiencing the region’s housing shortage, and subsequently becoming aware that the majority of housing was only occasionally used as second homes, Kai felt compelled to use her past experience and skills towards finding a solution.
Prior to Placemate, Kai’s career included marketing, operations, and customer experience roles at several non-profit organizations throughout the Bay Area. Kai’s non-profit experience allowed her to gain skills in fundraising, consumer research, corporate partnerships, and customer experience management. Kai’s initial instinct after learning of the housing issues in Tahoe was to connect with a local non-profit, which led to finding the Truckee-Tahoe Community Foundation, and eventually securing the seed funding Placemate needed to become a reality.
Currently, Kai is primarily focused on making connections in other destination towns and educating the local jurisdictions on the highly successful homeowner incentive program, Lease to Locals, which she helped spearhead just two years into her endeavor with Placemate. Since Placemate’s inception in 2018, Kai has partnered with local governments in 3 states across 7 counties and 6 towns, with more expansion on the horizon.