Board of Directors

Kenneth M. Woolley

Chairman
Kenneth Woolley
Kenneth M. Woolley is the founder of our Company, served as our Chairman and CEO from our formation through March 2009, and Chief Investment Officer from July 2012 to July 2013. Mr. Woolley resigned from his position as Chairman and CEO of the Company April 1, 2009, to serve a voluntary three-year mission for his church, during which time he remained as a director. Mr. Woolley has been involved in the self-storage industry since 1977. He has been directly responsible for developing over 165 properties and acquiring over 625 self-storage properties throughout the United States. Early in his career he was a management consultant with the Boston Consulting Group. From 1979 to 1998, he was an Associate Professor, and later an Adjunct Associate Professor of Business Administration at Brigham Young University, where he taught undergraduate and MBA classes in Corporate Strategy and Real Estate. Mr. Woolley has also developed more than 13,000 apartment units through his Las Vegas entity, Nevada West Partners. He is also a partner in New York based Gaia Real Estate, which owns 16,500 apartment units and 600,000 square feet of office space. He has also founded several companies in the retail, electronics, food manufacturing and natural resources industries. Mr. Woolley currently serves as a trustee and a member of the compensation committee of American Homes 4 Rent. Mr. Woolley holds a B.A. in physics from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. and Ph.D. in business administration from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Joseph D. Margolis

Director and CEO
Joseph Margolis
Joseph D. Margolis has served as our Chief Executive Officer since January 1, 2017. Previously, he served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer (“CIO”) from July 2015 until December 31, 2016. Mr. Margolis served as a member of our board of directors from February 2005 until July 2015. From 2011 until July 2015, he also was Senior Managing Director and Partner at Penzance Properties, a vertically integrated owner, operator and developer of office and other properties in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Previously, Mr. Margolis was a co-founding partner of Arsenal Real Estate Funds, a private real estate investment management firm, from 2004 through 2011. Before forming Arsenal in 2004, Mr. Margolis held senior positions from 1992 at Prudential Real Estate Investors in portfolio management, capital markets and as General Counsel. Before that, Mr. Margolis worked for The Prudential Insurance Company of America as in-house real estate counsel from 1988 through 1992, and as a real estate associate at the law firm of Nutter, McClennen & Fish from 1986 through 1988. Mr. Margolis is a graduate of Harvard College and Columbia University School of Law.

Joseph J. Bonner

Director
Bonner
Joseph J. Bonner is the President & CEO of Solana Beach Capital LLC, where he is responsible for advising owner/operator/developer clients on finding solutions for their real estate capital needs. He was previously the Chief Investment Officer of the UAE based company Mubadala Pramerica Real Estate Investors from 2010 to 2014, where he was responsible for executing the investment strategy of the company. From 1989 to 2010, Mr. Bonner held senior positions at Prudential Real Estate Investors in asset management and transactions where he was responsible for all real estate acquisitions in the MidAtlantic and Northeast Regions of the United States and the Eastern and Mid-Western Regions of Canada. From 1981 to 1987, Mr. Bonner was a senior engineer at Exxon Chemical Company, responsible for providing project management service to Exxon’s worldwide affiliates. Prior to joining Exxon, Mr. Bonner served as a Project Manager for IBM, where he was responsible for the design and construction of corporate office facilities. Mr. Bonner served as a Director at USAA Real Estate Company through June 2018. He is currently an Independent Director for three mutual funds managed by The Capital Group. Mr. Bonner holds a B.A. in architecture from The Cooper Union, an M.S. in civil engineering from MIT, and an M.B.A. from Harvard University.

Gary L. Crittenden

Director
Gary L. Crittenden
Gary L. Crittenden has served as an Executive Director at HGGC, LLC, a private equity firm, since January 2017. Mr. Crittenden previously served as the Chairman and Managing Partner of HGGC, LLC from December 2013 to December 2016, as its Chief Executive Officer from April 2012 to December 2013, and as its Managing Partner from 2009 to April 2012. Mr. Crittenden previously served as chairman of Citi Holdings, and as Chief Financial Officer at Citigroup, American Express Company, Monsanto, Sears Roebuck, Melville Corporation, and Filene’s Basement. Mr. Crittenden is a director of Primerica, Inc., Zions Bancorporation and Pluralsite, Inc. Mr. Crittenden holds a B.S. in management from Brigham Young University and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.

Spencer F. Kirk

Director
Spencer Kirk
Spencer F. Kirk served as the Company’s CEO from April 1, 2009 until his retirement on December 31, 2016. In addition, he has served as a director of the Company since its initial public offering in 2004, serving as the Company’s Chairman from April 1, 2009 until July 1, 2012. Previously, Mr. Kirk served as the Company’s President from September 2007 to April 2009 and as an Executive Vice President of the Company’s predecessor from 1998 to 2004. Mr. Kirk is the Company’s largest private individual stockholder. Before his involvement with the Company, Mr. Kirk co-founded Megahertz Corporation in 1985, which became the leading manufacturer of modems for laptop computers in the world. With Mr. Kirk serving as Chairman and CEO, Megahertz grew from a basement operation to the leading supplier of solution-oriented mobile data communications products. Megahertz went public in 1993 and in 1995 was acquired by US Robotics, which was later acquired by 3Com Corporation. Mr. Kirk holds a B.A. in finance and an M.B.A. from the University of Utah.

Dennis J. Letham

Director
Dennis Letham
Dennis J. Letham served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Anixter International Inc. from 1995 until his retirement in June 2011, where he oversaw the company’s finance, accounting, tax, legal, human resources and internal audit activities in 50 countries. Before assuming his role as Chief Financial Officer in 1995, Mr. Letham served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Anixter, Inc. the principal operating subsidiary of Anixter International Inc., which he joined in 1993. Previously, he had a 10-year career with National Intergroup Inc., where he was Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, as well as Vice President and Controller, Director of Corporate Accounting and Manager for Internal Audit. Mr. Letham began his career at Arthur Andersen & Co. in 1973 where he held progressive responsibilities in the Audit Department. Mr. Letham holds a bachelor’s degree from Pennsylvania State University’s Accounting Honors program. He also is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Letham was a director of Interline Brands, Inc. through August 2015. He currently serves as a director for Tenneco Inc.

Diane Olmstead

Director
Diane Olmstead
Diane Olmstead is the President of Fillmore Capital Affordable Housing (FCAH), which is an affiliate of Fillmore Capital Partners. FCAH is in the business of Impact Investing focused on the sectors of affordable and work force housing as well as in health care. She was previously the Chief Investment Officer at Bridge Housing Corporation from 2016 to 2018. Prior to Bridge Housing, Ms. Olmstead was Co-CEO of W3 Partners from 2009-2016 where she oversaw W3’s real estate acquisitions, financing activities, fundraising and client relations. Prior to W3 Partners, Ms. Olmstead was a principal at CIM Group from 2005 to 2009, where she headed acquisitions and development in Northern California and the Pacific Northwest and was a voting member of the investment committee. Prior to CIM Group, from 2000 to 2005, Ms. Olmstead was an Executive VP of iStar and responsible for all activities in iStar’s Western Region, including origination of structured finance transactions and acquisitions of triple net leases. From 1983 to 2000, Ms. Olmstead worked in positions of asset management, lending, acquisitions and equity raising with Arthur Andersen LLP, USF&G Corporation, Cigna Corporation and Aetna, Inc. Ms. Olmstead received an MBA from Pepperdine University. She serves on the board of Synedgen, Inc. and is a member of the Urban Land Institute and the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Development (UC Berkeley).

Roger B. Porter

Director
Roger Porter
Roger B. Porter is the IBM Professor of Business and Government at Harvard University. Mr. Porter has twice served as a director for Harvard's Center for Business and Government. Mr. Porter served for more than a decade in various senior economic policy positions in the Ford, Reagan and George H.W. Bush White Houses. Under President George H.W. Bush, Mr. Porter served as Assistant to the President for Economic and Domestic Policy from 1989 to 1993. Mr. Porter is a director of Tenneco, Inc., Zions Bancorporation and Packaging Corporation of America. Mr. Porter served as a director of Pactiv Corporation from November 1999 through November 2010. Mr. Porter holds a B.A. from Brigham Young University and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar and Woodrow Wilson Fellow, receiving his B.Phil. from Oxford University. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Julia Vander Ploeg

Director
Vander Ploeg
Julia Vander Ploeg is Senior Vice President, Global Head of Digital and Technology for Hyatt Hotels Corporation where she is responsible for setting digital and technology strategy, enhancing technology capabilities, managing revenue from digital channels, and advancing the customer experience throughout the technology ecosystem. In her previous role, Ms. Vander Ploeg led a digital transformation effort of Volvo Car Corporation’s consumer and enterprise digital business plans. Prior to Volvo, Ms. Vander Ploeg was Vice President of Digital for McDonald’s USA, where she built the organization’s first native digital team, establishing its first strategic digital product roadmap and the launch of mobile ordering. Her professional background also includes managing the P&L of Ticketmaster’s resale business unit during their mobile technology evolution. A native of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Ms. Vander Ploeg received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She previously sat on the board of Radio Systems Corporation, a private company acquired by Clayton, Dubilier and Rice in 2020.

Jefferson Shreve

Director
Jefferson Shreve
Jefferson Shreve is the founder of Storage Express, an innovative owner/operator of over 100 self-storage properties across the Midwest. Storage Express was founded in 1992 and was acquired by Extra Space Storage in 2022. Shreve serves on the Self-Storage Association (SSA) board of directors and presently is the chairman of the board. He also previously served on SSA’s foundation board and chaired its Large Operators Council. In addition to his industry work, Shreve was an elected City-County Councilor for Indianapolis, serves on the board and executive committee for the Indiana Chamber of Commerce, and was appointed to the Indiana State Workforce Innovation Council. Shreve was the elected chairman for Indiana University’s alumni body, is on boards for Indiana University and Purdue University, and served on the development committee of the statewide Indiana University Health system. Shreve holds a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University, an MBA from Purdue’s Krannert School of Management and a master’s degree from the University of London.

Committee Composition

Below is a summary of our committee structure and membership information.
To read more about any of the committees, click on committee names in the chart below.

Audit Committee Compensation Committee Nominating and Governance Committee
Gary L. Crittenden Audit Committee Nominating and Governance Committee
Julia Vander Ploeg Audit Committee Nominating and Governance Committee
Diane Olmstead Audit Committee Compensation Committee
Roger B. Porter Compensation Committee Nominating and Governance Committee
Dennis J. Letham Audit Committee Compensation Committee
Joseph J. Bonner Compensation Committee Nominating and Governance Committee
= Chairperson = Member