At Christopherson, many of our team members are Sonoma County natives, and Katy Dillwood, our Chief Financial Officer is no exception. Katy was born and raised in Santa Rosa and has been with us for more than 20 years. She cares deeply about Sonoma County and has always been interested in community involvement and volunteering. Katy’s especially proud and excited to be a part of our Sonoma County wildfire rebuilding efforts.
Prior to working with us, Katy worked for Arthur Andersen, a large accounting firm in San Francisco for four years following college. While working there she was asked to choose a specialty and decided on real estate, as it allowed her to play a large role in the decision making within the company. Katy then went to work for one of her clients – a large residential developer in Santa Clara for several years until the urge to return to Sonoma County became too great to ignore. After returning to Santa Rosa with her husband in 1990, she wanted to find a position that allowed her to continue her passion for the real estate industry and found it with Christopherson Homes where she functioned as Controller for 20 years. Katy was most recently the CFO for Scott Laboratories before returning early last year to assist with starting up Christopherson Builders. We’re very excited to have her back on the team. She believes it was fated – and so do we! Katy wears MANY hats here, and we couldn’t do it without her.
As CFO, Katy handles the accounting for our company, and she also works closely with our rebuild clients. She assists them in preparing their construction contracts and manages payments from both their mortgage and insurance companies. Since every lender and insurance company has different rules for fund disbursement, it can be challenging to keep track for every client, but Katy makes it seem easy. She also prepares budgets for every home we build, as well as cash flow projections for each project.
In addition, Katy works closely with our Sales, Purchasing, Design, Permit, and Construction teams daily, reviewing contracts and subcontracts for accuracy. She also handles all Human Resources and payroll functions and manages outside vendors for 401Ks, corporate insurance, external CPAs, attorneys, homeowner insurance specialists, and IT assistance. In 2015, she was awarded the CFO award by the North Bay Business Journal, an award that she’s very proud of.
Katy holding her newborn grandson, Leo, 2017.
When she’s not working, Katy continues to stay busy. She’s currently a Director of the Windsor Educational Foundation and has previously served two terms as a trustee for the Windsor Unified School District. She was also involved in the California Junior Miss (now called Distinguished Young Women) scholarship program for over 30 years, including as California State Chairman for several years. Katy enjoys traveling, with some of her favorite places being Hawaii and Europe and enjoys relaxing at her timeshare in Newport Beach. Her twins are currently enrolled at Santa Rosa Junior College, and her oldest son has an 18-month-old son who Katy sees nearly every weekend. She loves being a grandparent! Katy also has a border collie mix named Molly, and two cats – Buster and Posey – who are named after one of her favorite SF Giants players.
We’re so appreciative to have Katy as an integral member of the Christopherson team. Her dedication to the community, her passion for real estate, and her exceptional experience as a CPA and CFO make her an incredible asset to us and to the entire Sonoma County community!
