As a fourth generation Santa Clara county resident, Sereno Group co-founder Ryan Iwanaga acts as the organization's Executive Vice President and Manager of the Los Gatos and Saratoga offices. Iwanaga began his career at Century 21-Seville Contempo Los Gatos in 1997.
During his time at Century 21-Seveille Contempo, Iwanaga was awarded Rookie of the Year honors for his efforts and was later recognized with the Special Achievement Award for his continued production, as well as achieving Masters designation by Century 21 national.
In 2000, Iwanaga joined long time friend and Manager, Chris Trapani, as the Assistant Manager of the Century 21-Seville Contempo Los Gatos Office. During their partnership, Trapani and Iwanaga built the office into one of the nation's top producing offices in the Century 21 system.
When the company merged with Coldwell Banker and Trapani accepted the position as President of Silicon Valley Coldwell Banker, Iwanaga became the Manager of Los Gatos Coldwell Banker. During his tenure, Iwanaga's team was recognized as Coldwell Banker Northern California's top producing office and consistently earned top five office honors nationally in sales volume and overall performance.
With the support of his Los Gatos team, Iwanaga was a member of the Coldwell Banker President's Council each year of his leadership, an honor given by Coldwell Banker National to its top 5% of managers. While on the Council, Iwanaga provided input for Coldwell Banker's brand development and marketing.
Iwanaga is pleased to be joining Sereno Group as a principal founder. Both Trapani and Iwanaga are fulfilling their longtime goal of creating a real estate brokerage that echoes the valley's rich real estate history while also embracing the area's progressive technology based culture.
Prior to entering real estate, Iwanaga was a doctoral candidate in English at The University of Houston. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a Master of Fine Arts in English from the University of Oregon.
Iwanaga graduated from Saratoga High School in 1984 and coached in the high school's football program for several years both as an assistant and Head Coach. He remains actively involved with the high school and presents a yearly scholarship to a graduating senior.
Outside of his commitments at Sereno Group, Iwanaga enjoys participating in triathlons and completed Ironman Wisconsin 2005 and 2010 and Ironman Coeur d'Alene 2007. One of his long term fitness goals is to complete each of the seven Ironman North America events and hopes to challenge himself one day at Ironman Hawaii.
Iwanaga lives in Los Gatos with his wife, Meena, and daughter, Keats.