American National Investments 2003

"We need to harness the vision and the determination to put together a team effort to find decent, safe and sanitary housing that can be afforded by our workforce."

At age 37, Gina Champion-Cain has already accumulated more than a handful of awards for her work in real estate. Chosen in 2001 by San Diego Business Journal for its Women Who Mean Business Award and San Diego Metropolitan for its 40 Under 40 Award, she was also named by San Diego Magazine as one of the 50 People To Watch in 2002. Still, she says, the award of which she is most proud is the Author E. Hughes Career Achievement Award from the School of Business Administration at USD.

Champion-Cain came to San Diego with six years’ experience as senior vice president of Koll, a giant in the real estate world, before founding American National Investments in 1997. From its roots as a property management company, American National Investments is now a diversified network of interrelated companies that provide services to virtually every aspect of the real estate industry.

“The company is exploding—we’re growing by leaps and bounds,” says Champion-Cain. “We offer a full range of real estate services and brokerage activities, as well as development expertise and investment opportunities.”

For Champion-Cain, who lives with her husband in a renovated 1921 Spanish hacienda in Mission Hills, San Diego has always been the place to be. “I was involved in urban renewal,” she says, “and I thought that downtown San Diego was a good place to start.”

Champion-Cain lends her voice to support the cause of affordable housing in San Diego, a crisis situation that has not gone unnoticed by Mayor Dick Murphy and local government officials. “I am really on the rampage about affordable housing,” says Champion-Cain, recently appointed as chair of the Housing Authority & Appeal Board. “We need to harness the vision and the determination to put together a team effort to find decent, safe and sanitary housing that can be afforded by our workforce.”