Annie Hanna Cestra

Annie Hanna Cestra is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services, the nation’s largest family-owned and-operated real estate firm. She was named as COO in 1986, after 12 years of serving as Treasurer and guiding the fiscal policies of the company from the beginning of its remarkable expansion. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Georgian Court University and a Master of Education degree from the University of Pittsburgh. Annie currently holds a Real Estate Broker and an Insurance license in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York.

Annie’s current responsibilities include directing the administrative operations of Hanna Holdings and its affiliates, including Howard Hanna Real Estate. This involves developing and implementing policies and procedures that serve the needs of the Corporation, the employees, and licensees to ensure professional standards of consistency and integrity.

Annie is a former member of the Pennsylvania State Real Estate Commission, where she began her term in 2003 and served for 15 years. In December 2007, then Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell appointed Annie as Chair of the Real Estate Commission. She also has served as a Director of the Realtors Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh’s Executive Committee and a delegate to the National Association of Realtors.

An active and involved member of the community, Annie is currently serving as Chair of the Board of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh. In the past, she has served as President and Vice President respectively of St. Lucy’s Auxiliary to the Blind and of Pittsburgh Hearing, Speech and Deaf Services. She also has served on the Board of the Winchester Thurston School and as Treasurer of Fox Chapel Country Day School’s Board of Trustees.

The National Relocation and Real Estate Magazine honored Annie as “One of the Most Powerful Women in Real Estate” in 1999. Carlow College recognized Annie in 1994 as a “Woman of Spirit.” She was also honored in Washington DC at the Second Annual Working Woman 500 Congress. In April of 2008, the Howard Hanna family was recognized by LaRoche College as the recipient of the Ad Lucem Award in honor of the Hanna Family’s vision, leadership, and determination. In 2021, the National Association of Women Business Owners honored Annie as "Enterprising Woman of the Year." And most recently, in 2022, Annie was recognized on the Pittsburgh Business Times Power 100 list, which is a compendium of the Pittsburgh region’s great leaders who are making an impact on the region, defining it, and moving it forward.