Our Team

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Clifford J. Treese
Founder & President

Cliff is a nationally recognized leader in common interest community underwriting, risk management and insurance, and has substantial experience in all phases of community association management and development. He is past national president of Community Associations Institute (CAI) and of its Foundation for Community Association Research (FCAR). Cliff is a two-time recipient of CAI’s Distinguished Service Award. He has over three decades of involvement in the Institute’s professional management development programs, as well as community association risk management and insurance programs. He has authored several CAI publications, most recently, the Community Association Fact Book 2021. Also, he maintains a close watch over the activities of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA on various community association matters. Cliff is a graduate of Stanford University. 

Vivian G. Walker
Vice President

Vivian has in-depth management and professional development experience in higher education and state government, and many years of service to common interest communities. She is past national vice president of Community Associations Institute (CAI) and past president of CAI’s Foundation for Community Association Research. She founded and chaired the national CAI Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee, working to expand the knowledge and use of effective ADR techniques among CAI’s chapters, members, and local communities. Vivian was an Adjunct Faculty member of the Northwestern University Kellogg Graduate School of Management and was Assistant Dean of Golden Gate University School of Law. She received a PhD from Northwestern University.

Bruce Springthorpe
Director of Technology

Bruce has extensive experience in management, strategic planning, advanced software development, marketing, and customer service related to the common interest community field. He joined Community Associations Institute (CAI) in 1987 from the payment coupon book company he founded in 1980. Bruce has worked with and on behalf of community associations for many years, including service as a CAI National Trustee, president of the North Carolina Chapter of CAI, a member of the national CAI Technology Committee, and on many other CAI national and Chapter committees.

Liana Russell
Data Services

Liana has extensive experience in office management, strategic planning, software implementation, human resources, and customer service related to the common interest community industry. She joined Community Associations Institute (CAI) in 1996 as an employee of a leading Community Association Management Company on the West Coast, where she spent the next 20 years in various roles helping the company to grow threefold, ending her tenure as its Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) and Corporate Secretary.  For many years, she has lived in and worked with and on behalf of community associations in Oregon, Washington and more recently in Texas, including volunteering either on the Board or in Committee positions for each association of which she has been a member.  She is a graduate of Western Oregon University. 

Wendy Schroeder
Data Services
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Wendy Schroeder has extensive experience in the community association management industry as well as in creating automated document management processes involving community association disclosure and mortgage lending.  Ms. Schroeder is well versed in all the major specialized accounting systems for association management. Similarly, she is skilled in the primary Microsoft products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access) as well as with Adobe products.  Additionally, she has worked with HTML coding, major data platforms, system software, software implementation, database structure and architecture.