Andrea Gilligan Collins

Many will say that winning an award changed their lives, among them Andrea Gilligan Collins. She credits TWIN recognition almost a quarter of a century ago with bringing about major life change.

After she was honored in 1983 by Pardee Homes, the company for which she still works, Collins and other recipients visited area high school girls to talk about careers. “It was a really rewarding program,” she says, “and that inspired me to do more community service.”

Today, 60-year-old Collins is a regular participant in the Breast Cancer Awareness Walk. She is a member of the Pardee Homes team that annually builds homes for the homeless in Tijuana. “You walk away and here’s a family that didn’t have a home before,” she says.

Her career has grown along with her community involvement. She joined Pardee in 1978 as the marketing coordinator, and in 2001 received a promotion to regional marketing manager. In 2005, she was named “Marketing Director of the Year” at the BIA Sales and Marketing Council’s SAM Awards. She has served on that group’s board.

Collins actually began working for a senator in Washington, D.C., but soon became disillusioned by politics. She moved to San Diego to be near family and earned a real estate license before getting the job at Pardee Homes. She immediately fell in love with the company.

“Pardee is one of the best employers in California,” says Collins, who married Fred Collins three years ago. They live in one of Pardee’s newest communities, Pacific Highlands Ranch. “The company is environmentally committed and all the homes are Energy Star, which no else in San Diego can say.”

While she enjoys walking and traveling, Collins still loves her job, even after almost three decades. “I love the diversity of it,” she says. “I get to work with designers, construction supervisors, PR people, the home builders — all kinds of people. That’s what makes my job so exciting and I’m committed to doing it the best I can.”

— Patricia Morris Buckley