Management

Sheryl Palmer is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Taylor Morrison, a leading national homebuilder and developer based in Scottsdale, Arizona. Since 2007, Ms. Palmer has overseen a highly experienced leadership team in several key national homebuilding markets. With more than 30 years of cross-functional building experience, including leadership in land acquisition, sales and marketing, development and operations management, Ms. Palmer has led Taylor Morrison into the top ranks of America’s largest public homebuilders, following the company’s IPO in 2013.

Under Ms. Palmer’s leadership, Taylor Morrison has been successful in creating trustworthy relationships with both internal and external customers. The company was named America’s Most Trusted Home Builder for the sixth consecutive year by Lifestory Research, recognized as BUILDER Magazine’s 2020 Builder of the Year, named one of the World’s Most Admired Companies by Fortune Magazine in 2019 and 2020, and recognized as a repeat member of Bloomberg’s Gender Equality Index (GEI) for transparency in gender reporting and advancing women’s equality in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Ms. Palmer herself was also named a Top CEO in 2018 in the Glassdoor Employees’ Choice Awards.

Ms. Palmer’s passions extend beyond homebuilding and enter the many realms of leadership and diversity; supporting veterans; solving for homelessness; and health and wellness. She currently serves as Chairman of the Building Talent Foundation, an organization that partners with homebuilders to address the vast trade labor shortage. She also served as the Chairman of the National Board of Directors of HomeAid America from 2019 to 2021, is on the Board of Directors of Interface Inc., and is an Executive Committee Member of the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) Policy Advisory Board at Harvard University.

Dar Ahrens has served as Taylor Morrison’s Executive Vice President and Chief Field Operations Officer since February 2020. In his current role, he oversees all day-to-day homebuilding operations, national purchasing and construction optimization. Mr. Ahrens previously served as Taylor Morrison’s West Area President from 2015-2020 and has held key Division President and Regional President positions since joining the Company in September 2006.

Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, he served as the Vice President of Operations and Vice President of Land for Pulte Homes and held senior land acquisition, forward planning and development positions for Woodside Homes and John Laing Homes. Before entering homebuilding, Mr. Ahrens worked in both the commercial and heavy civil construction industries. He holds a master’s degree in building construction from the University of Florida and a B.S. from California State University, Chico.

Erik Heuser joined Taylor Morrison as Director of Business Development in 2004 and was appointed Vice President of Land Investments in 2007, Chief Strategy Officer in 2015 and Chief Corporate Operations Officer in 2019. Mr. Heuser leads strategic direction, various business development initiatives, as well as portfolio management and evaluation of all contemplated land investments and divestitures by chairing Taylor Morrison’s Investment Committee. He also oversees the Company’s Build-to-Rent business, strategic market intelligence and research, brand marketing and communications, and customer experience efforts.

Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Mr. Heuser ran a division for Hanley Wood Market Intelligence, owned a homebuilding entity in Chicago, and held senior acquisition, institutional finance, and investment roles with PNC Mortgage, MetLife, and A.G. Edwards & Sons. He holds a degree in finance from Illinois State University and an MBA from the Keller Graduate School of Management. Mr. Heuser had the opportunity to participate in executive programs at Harvard Business School, The Wharton School, University of Chicago, M.I.T., Pepperdine University and The Kellogg School—and is an alumni of the Stanford University GSB. He currently serves on the Emeritus Council Board for the Foundation for Senior Living, on the Loyola University Quinlan School of Business Advisory Board, is an active member at the National Council level of ULI and is a member of Arizona State University’s Real Estate Council.

As Executive Vice President of Taylor Morrison and President of Financial Services, Tawn Kelley leads the company’s suite of Financial Services businesses, which include Taylor Morrison Home Funding, Inspired Title Services, Taylor Morrison Insurance Services and Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures. She is responsible for the management, financial performance and long-term growth strategies of these companies.

Ms. Kelley has over 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry, including leadership in new construction financing, title and homeowners’ insurance, mortgage servicing and operational management. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison in 2001, she founded and served as CEO and President of Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures (MFDV), a management company that partnered with homebuilders to create in-house mortgage subsidiaries. Among the various partnerships under the Mortgage Funding Direct family, Taylor Morrison Home Funding was also established in 2001. The successful partnership expanded nationally and evolved from a mortgage brokerage to a lender, ultimately paving the way for Taylor Morrison to acquire the MFDV management company in 2009. As a senior member of the Taylor Morrison leadership team since that time, Ms. Kelley has held several executive level positions that have contributed to the growth and expansion of Taylor Morrison.

Darrell Sherman is the Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary and has served as chief counsel to the Company since June 2009. Mr. Sherman has over 20 years of experience in the homebuilding industry, having served in senior legal roles at Centex Homes and Pulte Homes/Del Webb. Prior to joining the homebuilding industry, Mr. Sherman was a finance and real estate lawyer at Snell & Wilmer L.L.P. He also served as an Administrative Law Judge appointed by Arizona Governor Fife Symington, hearing appeals from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and as a member of the U.S. Senate Judicial Advisory Committee, recommending the appointment of U.S. District Court judges. He holds a degree in economics with university honors and a J.D., both from Brigham Young University, where he was a member of the BYU Law Review. He is a member of the State Bar of Arizona and the American Bar Association and admitted to the Arizona and U.S. Supreme Courts.

Lou Steffens serves as Taylor Morrison’s Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Since joining the company in 2007, Mr. Steffens held Area and Regional President positions in various markets across the country and was appointed President of Mergers and Acquisitions in 2018. Responsible for creating and implementing short and long-term strategic initiatives, Mr. Steffens led Taylor Morrison through six successful acquisitions, significantly expanding the company’s portfolio and positioning the builder as one of the largest in the nation. He has also overseen the company’s Results Management Office, where he spearheaded operational initiatives that further enhanced the organization’s financial results. Mr. Steffens has more than 30 years of homebuilding and financial experience, having worked for other national homebuilders, including Pulte Homes and Beazer Homes, where he served in a variety of leadership positions. Prior to that, he spent several years in financial roles with both corporate and field responsibilities within audit, accounting and finance. He holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting and finance from Michigan State University and studied ‘strategic negotiations’ at Harvard Business School.

Charlie Enochs has served as the Central Area President at Taylor Morrison since May 2015. He is responsible for the development and execution of strategic, operational and financial business plans. Mr. Enochs served as the Phoenix Division President from 2008 to 2015 where he helped the division earn a two-time distinction by ‘Ranking Arizona’ as the top production homebuilder in the market. He has more than 20 years of experience in the homebuilding industry, having worked for several national builders including, Del Webb/Pulte Homes, Coventry Homes and Toll Brothers. Mr. Enochs holds a bachelor's degree in engineering from the Virginia Military Institute and an MBA from the University of Texas.

Steve Kempton joined Taylor Morrison in 2007. He oversees the company’s markets in Florida and Atlanta. In April 2015, he served as the Florida Regional President, where he managed more than 50 communities, before becoming the Florida Area President in 2018. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Mr. Kempton had a robust career as a top executive with several national builders. As a trained civil engineer with an MBA, he has a profound understanding of the business of land development and home construction.

Curt VanHyfte joined Taylor Morrison via the William Lyon Homes acquisition in 2020. In his role, he oversees and drives operational excellence and growth for markets in the West Area. During his nearly 30-year career in homebuilding, he has held division, regional and national roles in finance and spent almost two decades as a Division President in Chicago, St. Louis, Houston and Phoenix for several homebuilders, including Pulte and M/I Homes. Mr. VanHyfte earned a B.S. in accounting with a minor in business management from St. John’s University in Minnesota.

As the Senior Vice President of Total Rewards, Debbie Beets is responsible for designing the comprehensive Total Rewards package Taylor Morrison team members enjoy today. She joined the Company in 2015 as the Director of Total Rewards, has held the position of Vice President of Total Rewards, and was promoted to Senior Vice President of Total Rewards in 2019. In her expanded role, Ms. Beets co-leads the Human Resources Department—known as People Services—and oversees employee compensation, executive compensation, payroll and benefits for nearly 3,000 team members companywide. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Ms. Beets contributed to the total rewards and benefits teams at Nuverra Environmental Solutions, Universal Technical Institute, PetSmart, Mercer Health & Benefits and Del Webb. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Arizona State University in business administration and has a Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR) certification.

John Lucas joined Taylor Morrison in 2000 and has held various IT management positions during his tenure. Mr. Lucas initially focused on IT operations and training—learning about the IT needs within the homebuilding industry from the ground up. He then helped oversee IT integration for multiple mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. As a senior IT leader, Mr. Lucas has held the positions of Director of IT from 2008-2014, Vice President of IT from 2014-2020, and in February 2020, he was promoted to Chief Information Officer, leading through the pandemic while integrating the company’s latest acquisition. In his current role, he oversees IT management for cybersecurity and compliance, M&A strategy, enterprise infrastructure and applications. Prior to entering the homebuilding industry more than two decades ago, he served in IT roles at Creative Business Concepts and Techserv Systems.

As Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Stephanie McCarty leads brand marketing, employee and customer communications, media relations and PR, and crisis and issues management for Taylor Morrison. In her role, she has transformed the company culture and branding position nationwide, led acquisitions that helped catapult Taylor Morrison to one of the country's largest residential homebuilders, led efforts resulting in the brand being recognized as America's Most Trusted Home Builder by Lifestory Research seven years running, and positioned Taylor Morrison among the first to move the future of new construction home shopping forward with innovative, industry-leading customer acquisition tools.

Ms. McCarty joined the organization in 2015 as the Vice President of Corporate Communications and has led communications functions for the University of Phoenix, Insight, ON Semiconductor and McMurry, Inc. She has been named a ‘Top Women in PR’ by PRNews (2019), a ‘Top Women in Communications’ by Ragan Communications and PR Daily (2020), and a Top Marketing Leader by HousingWire (2022). Ms. McCarty graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University and currently sits on the Advisory Board for Zillow Group, Inc.

Amy Rino oversees sales in all 22 Taylor Morrison markets with a focus on enhancing the customer experience across the company. Ms. Rino’s career with the organization dates to February 2005, when she joined Morrison Homes as the Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Over the next decade, Ms. Rino was instrumental in the growth and operations of the Houston market and played a key role in the acquisition of Darling Homes. In 2013, she served as Division President for Darling Homes, and five years later, her role expanded to become the Division President of the combined Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes businesses in Houston. Prior to Taylor Morrison, she held a role as Vice President for Ranger American, a low voltage subcontractor, and also held various roles with Pulte Homes and Standard Pacific Homes throughout her more than 25-year homebuilding career. Ms. Rino earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa.

As the Senior Vice President of People Operations, Development and Acquisition, Charissa Wagner plays an instrumental role shaping the company culture and employee experience at Taylor Morrison. She joined the organization 13 years ago as the Human Resources Director, and since then, has served as Vice President of Human Resources and Vice President of Talent Acquisition and Development. Ms. Wagner was promoted to her current role in 2019 and currently co-leads the Human Resources Department—known as People Services—at Taylor Morrison. In her current role, she oversees talent acquisition and recruitment, talent development and learning, diversity and inclusion, and people operations. She leads a large group of HR professionals and leaders from coast to coast. Prior to joining Taylor Morrison, Ms. Wagner worked at Cox Communication and UPS TeleServices. She graduated from the University of Arizona.