BELLEVUE, Wash. — Aegis Living, a Bellevue-based owner-operator, has promoted Sandra Preyale from chief people officer to president.
In her new role, Preyale will oversee operations and strategies for new properties in development, including two new communities expected to open later this year. As CPO, she developed and launched Aegis University to grow talent from within, created a centralized recruiting team to maintain lower-than-average industry turnover and was helped the leadership team navigate through the pandemic.
Preyale has more than 30 years of experience as an executive leader in global human resources (HR) and sales leadership roles working with brands like Amazon.com and Coach, designing and implementing talent strategies to drive growth and success. At Amazon, she oversaw seven business groups and 75 global HR partners for Amazon Marketplace and was responsible for reengineering the HR organization across global regions. At Coach, she led the HR strategy to build Coach retail in Europe and Asia and oversaw various change-management projects including developing a new regional buying model and back-office outsourcing.
In addition to Preyale’s change, Lee Kaufmann was promoted to senior vice president of human resources after five years working in Aegis communities. In his new role, he will take over hiring, leading and retaining team members as Preyale transitions out.
Prior to Aegis, Kaufmann spent years in leadership at large brands, leading sales and operations teams at Zales, Target, Nordstrom and Gap. Across each role, he led large, underperforming districts, achieving sales and operations turnarounds through developing and motivating teams.
Lastly, Howard Jacobs was promoted to chief operating officer and will officially begin his new role in March 2022. He currently serves as a regional vice president for Aegis with an extensive background in hospitality, working previously for several luxury hotels.
Jacobs has decades of experience supporting large teams and operations. For nine years, prior to Aegis, he served as regional vice president and chief operating officer at Provenance Hotels, supporting 700 team members across four states and 13 luxury lifestyle properties. He also served as area general manager at Destination Hotels, leading teams at hotels such as Woodmark, Suncadia and Motif.