Leadership

Mr. Leer is President and Chief Executive Officer of AlerisLife, for which he had previously served as Chief Financial Officer. Prior to joining AlerisLife, Mr. Leer served as Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of Office Properties Income Trust and as Senior Vice President of The RMR Group LLC, where he has been responsible for the day to day oversight of the accounting and finance support functions of The RMR Group and its various affiliates. Previously, Mr. Leer held various accounting and finance positions at several multi-national Fortune 500 companies as well as the public accounting firm, Vitale, Caturano PC (predecessor to RSM). Mr. Leer is also a certified public accountant.

Ms. Pereira is Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer of AlerisLife. Prior to joining AlerisLife, Ms. Pereira served as Vice President and Corporate Controller of Acushnet Holdings Corp. since May of 2017 and previously held various accounting and finance roles at the company, which she joined in 2004. Ms. Pereira has over 20 years of accounting and finance experience and holds a Master’s degree in Accountancy and Masters of Business Administration from Northeastern University and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College.

Michael Lopez joined AlerisLife in 2022 in the role of Chief People Officer, responsible for architecting a talent strategy to support brand expansion and leading the entire Human Resources function. Prior to Five Star and AlerisLife, Michael led the HR teams at Royal Caribbean International and Athleta, as well as served in senior HR positions at Starbucks and Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. Michael shares the Five Star and AlerisLife value of putting people first, informed by his depth of experience in leadership development, organizational effectiveness and service culture. A Connecticut native, he is also an avid fitness, health and adventure travel enthusiast.

Vijay Moses joined AlerisLife in 2022 in the role of General Counsel. Previously, he served as vice president, general counsel and secretary at J.Jill Inc. Before J.Jill, Vijay was with Samsonite Inc., where he served as vice president and general counsel of the Americas. He also has been an associate general counsel with National Amusements Inc., which owns controlling interests in Viacom and CBS. Vijay began his legal career with Foley Hoag in Boston, where he worked in its Labor/Employment and Litigation Departments. Vijay grew up in Connecticut and is a graduate of Yale University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Mr. Benjamson is Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of AlerisLife. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in the senior living, hospitality and multifamily industries and most recently served as Vice President of Senior Housing Operations for Trinity Health Senior Communities. Previously, Mr. Benjamson was the Chief Operating Officer at Resort Lifestyle Communities from 2018 to 2021 and the Chief Operating Officer at Blake Management Group from 2016 to 2018. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Organizational Development from the University of California, Davis.

Stephen Geiger joined the Five Star division in January 2021 and was promoted to Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer in August 2021. Prior to Five Star, Stephen served as the Senior Vice President of External Reporting and Accounting Policy for The CIT Group for 11 years. Prior to that he worked at the audit firm KPMG LLP for 22 years, including the last nine years as an assurance partner. Stephen has a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Accounting from James Madison University and is a certified public accountant.

Jim Kotarski joined the leadership team as Vice President of IT and CIO for our Five Star division. He came from Avid Technology, a media, audio/video firm, where he served as the business information officer. Before that, Jim was director of global enterprise applications for cybersecurity firm Rapid7. He started his career in the financial services industry at Oppenheimer. Jim holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Merrimack College and earned his MBA at Babson College.

Susan joined Aleris Life in 2022 after a short sabbatical from leadership roles across numerous industries in the public, private and non-profit sectors. It was during this time that she navigated senior living options for her aging mother. This first-hand experience has become Susan’s driving force to help others understand and appreciate all that Aleris Life has to offer. Susan's marketing acumen was honed at some of the top brands in the footwear and apparel categories. Most recently, Susan was Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for The Rockport Group. She has also lead marketing for Saucony, Clarks and Sperry-Topsider. Beyond shoes, Susan was Vice President of Marketing for Airstream, Chief Marketing Officer at Renovia and Chief Development and Marketing Officer for a non-profit organization dedicated to adults with disabilities. Susan graduated from the University of New Hampshire where she was a member of its NCAA Champion lacrosse team. A life-long learner, she has recently earned executive education certificates from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern and Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Jennifer Clark serves as Secretary for AlerisLife. She is also Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of The RMR Group Inc. and The RMR Group LLC and is a member of the RMR Executive Operating Committee. Jennifer has been a Managing Director of RMR since 2018. She is responsible for all legal matters affecting the RMR managed companies. Jennifer is also the Secretary of all RMR-managed companies and serves on the boards of Office Properties Income Trust (Nasdaq: OPI), AlerisLife Inc. (Nasdaq: ALR) and Sonesta International Hotels Corporation (private). In addition, she serves as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of Tremont Realty Capital LLC, a wholly owned, SEC-registered investment adviser subsidiary of RMR acquired in 2016. Before joining RMR in 1999, Jennifer was a partner at the law firm of Sullivan & Worcester LLP, where she had a broad-based real estate practice, including representing secured lenders, borrowers, joint venture partners and investors in loans and leveraged transactions. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in English and American Literature from Brandeis University and a Juris Doctor from Boston University Law School.

Vern Larkin is the Director of Internal Audit for The RMR Group Inc. (Nasdaq: RMR). He also serves as Director of Internal Audit for all of the publicly traded companies managed by RMR, including AlerisLife Inc. (Nasdaq: ALR), Service Properties Trust (Nasdaq: SVC), Diversified Healthcare Trust (Nasdaq: DHC), Office Properties Income Trust (Nasdaq: OPI), Industrial Logistics Properties Trust (Nasdaq: ILPT), TravelCenters of America Inc. (Nasdaq: T.A.), and Seven Hills Realty Trust (Nasdaq: SEVN). Vern also serves as Chief Compliance Officer and Director of Internal Audit for Tremont Realty Capital LLC, a wholly owned, SEC-registered investment adviser subsidiary of RMR acquired in 2016. He was previously employed by AlerisLife as Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, as well as by RMR as a Senior Vice President, until 2012. Before joining AlerisLife and RMR in 2011, Vern practiced law at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP for over 10 years. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

Alex Foster joined Five Star as Divisional Vice President in 2020. Mr. Foster has extensive experience in operations, including from his executive leadership roles at Atria Senior Living and Allegro Residences. Mr. Foster began his career overseeing operations for multi-unit retail companies. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Northeastern University.

Melinda Skirvin joined Five Star in 2005 as Executive Director of Park Summit in Coral Springs, Florida. Since then, Ms. Skirvin has served as the Regional Director of Operations and was promoted to Divisional Vice President in 2018. She has more than 30 years of successful experience in all facets of senior healthcare and senior living services and has a passion for older adults and the team members who serve them. Ms. Skirvin earned a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Florida State College-Jacksonville.