Background on George Koster
George has worked in the areas of green building and green finance over the past five years. He has extensive real estate knowledge through his startup and operation of a Century 21 real estate brokerage in the Lake Tahoe and Truckee communities. George is a Certified Green Building Professional, he serves on Build it Green’s Green Point Rater and Green Realtor Council Advisory Committees, and he is a member of the Green Affordable Housing Coalition, a joint project of Build It Green and Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). George worked with Sustainable Capital, LLC, Modern Earth Finance and Princeton Capital in the development and launch of a green mortgage product. In addition to this expertise in green building, George is expanding his expertise in sustainability by attending the Presidio School of Management’s Executive Certification Program in Sustainable Management.
Previously, George was a Senior Manager of Business Development and one of the founding architects of building brand and community at eBay Inc. He planned and implemented some of eBay’s most successful entertainment marketing partnerships, including eBay’s sponsorship of PBS’s Antiques Road show and development of entertainment marketing auction programs with Warner Bros., Court TV, Cartoon Network, History Channel, Universal Studios, National Geographic Channel, Fox and PBS Video. George created and executed grassroots merchandising programs such as the 28-city nationwide tradeshow program “From our Home Page to Your Hometown,” a licensed merchandise program with the launch of the official eBay Store, and launched the eBay Platinum Visa credit card. Additionally, George launched a publishing program that included the official eBay Magazine, the official 2001 eBay Calendar, as well as The Official eBay Guide to Buying, Selling and Collecting Just About Anything, eBay For Dummies, and eBay Cliff Notes books. Prior to eBay, George brought his unique blend of integrated marketing to leverage niche marketplaces with some of Hollywood’s top studios and cable television networks.
Mr. Koster is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz with a Bachelor’s of Arts degree in Environmental Studies and Film/TV Production. He also has an Executive Certificate in Sustainable Management from the Presidio School of Management. George is active in various professional nonprofit organizations including the US Green Building Council, Green Affordable Housing Coalition, and ABAG regional stakeholder committee.