August 2020 preview

August 2020

HOUSINGWIRE MAGAZINE AUGUST 2020

Women of

Influence R i ha m

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K ar

Victoria

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Karen S tar n s

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As the holidays ramped up in early December 2019, Charlotte Catalfo had her eye not on decorating and gift-wrapping, but on a small but worrisome health crisis escalating halfway across the globe.

From the suburban Virginia headquarters of mortgage securitizer Freddie Mac, Catalfo kept tabs on a new virus that the Chinese government was having trouble containing to the city of Wuhan. When the now-infamous COVID-19 virus hopscotched to Italy, she knew that it was time to put Freddie Mac’s emergency continuity plan into gear. As senior vice president for enterprise operations and a member of Freddie Mac’s senior operating committee, it was her responsibility to figure out how to ensure uninterrupted work with investors, lenders, multifamily property owners and homeowners if business as usual was thrown off track.

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Leading the Freddie Mac’s business continuity initiative, which manages $2.2 trillion in assets, Catalfo cleared the way for ongoing collaboration with regulators and business partners to firm up policies to keep Americans safely housed. Her team worked with lenders to lay out policies for mortgage forbearance, if it was needed. She oversaw dress rehearsals in which Freddie Mac departments practiced remote work to find and fix technical and logistical glitches.

“People, process and technology,” Catalfo says of the remote-work stress tests. “We found that some people were locked out [of the Freddie Mac computer systems] and we could help them before there actually was a crisis.

We figured out how to support employees in their critical roles. We finished our last division just as we declared that everyone had to work from home except for essential personnel. That plan executed nicely.”

In March, while most American companies were hastily patching together backup plans for keeping their doors virtually open, Freddie Mac was a step ahead. Having learned from the 2008 housing crisis that consumers needed clear, consistent guidance about what to do if they couldn’t pay their mortgages, Freddie Mac made itself the go-to source for how homeowners could claim forbearance to ensure they had a home i n wh ich t o shelter in place.

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As the pandemic swept across America in the spring of 2020, Freddie Mac managers took their cues from senior leadership: support line employees as they figured out their own personal continuity plans. Communicate more, and more often, than you normally would. Assume the best. Lead with empathy.

It worked: the company’s thousands of employees managed a record volume of inquiries, offering beleaguered Americans at least one reliable point of reference when nearly all aspects of daily life were upended. Over 2 million Americans sought information about their mortgages from the company’s website.

From pandemic to protests to politics, 2020 has been an obstacle course for housing industr y companies.

Though core business momentum is strong, employers are fighting a thicket of complications to keep staff engaged, business partners in synch and customers in the loop.

Data and forecasting only go so far when events cascade to a torrent of unexpected, unpredictable situations.

When companies have to navigate one week or even one day at a time, communication and collaboration are the most critical leadership skills. And women are, as a group, renowned for those skills, along with a measured

“It’s not about one gender’s skill or aptitude versus the other. It’s a blend of both that brings out our best.”

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risk management; empathy; and a people-first approach to operations. This year, as the going got tough, women who kept things going drew on both traditional and operational strengths. If this year continues its current trajectory, the housing industry might permanently change as a result.

“It’s nurturing that women tend to be better at,” says Kara Taylor, ATTOM Data Solutions vice president of marketing. “And that’s what this situation calls for.”

A health care crisis on such a huge scale is intrinsically threatening at an elemental level. That means that employee communication is really about reassurance; frightened people can’t concentrate, Taylor pointed out. In such situations, she says, women intuitively gravitate toward communication, lots of it, in lots of different ways, on lots of different levels.

“I’m always asking my team, how’s your comfort level, what are you worried about? And then I can take that to the executive team and share that there’s anxiety out there,” Taylor said. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, she realized that employees and business partners alike had no tolerance for generic messages. “They wanted to hear directly from the person in charge. It helps every time our CEO sends out an email that says, ‘here’s what we’re doing, and why.”

“What we’re seeing now is drawing on some important skills that don’t always get prioritized,” said Gayle Weiswasser, senior vice president of communications and business development for Homesnap, a mobile productivity platform for agents and a home search platform for consumers.

“Serving in a communications role in this pandemic has drawn on traditionally female traits, such as empathy and connection, and reaching out,” Weiswasser said. “It has been a bit less about traditional marketing messaging and analytics, and the more transactional side of relationship building. We’ve seen that since the middle of March. What’s working with establishing connection with audiences is providing information and recognizing the challenges that people, especially agents and multiple listing service staff, are going through. We’re trying to anticipate the kind of content that will make their lives easier and explaining what those features are and how to use them.”

Catalyst, a New York-based nonprofit think tank that explores and advocates for women’s leadership, released a report in June illustrating how aptitudes often characterized by women are precisely what’s needed to guide organizations through this year’s wrenching events. Transparency, equity and communication are essential factors for fueling resilience and flexibility, Catalyst reported.

Housing industry employers need all that and more to steer through the confusion that the COVID-19 pandemic inflicted on nearly every segment of the economy.

“The pandemic has put more urgency on utilizing

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our soft skills for crisis management, without a doubt,” said Lisa Fenske, senior vice president of marketing and communications for Waterstone Mortgage, which employs 600. “We had to have creative problem-solving strategies while also considering health and safety protocols. We put even more of an emphasis on communication, not just with employees and customers but also with business partners. And that didn’t just mean pushing out emails and videoconferences, but considering the personal and emotional perspective.”

“And then I started seeing a bit of a shift,” Fenske continued. “When we had conversations, and we kept bringing up employees’ situations as we made decisions, other leaders started talking about that, too. The months of March through May presented many extraordinary circumstances for us, as they did for all businesses. We relocated about 90% of our workforce to their homes, and remained sensitive to the unique emotional challenges that many of our employees and customers were facing. While we focused on making the transition seamless and flexible for our team members, we were also able to successfully help a record-breaking number of customers with their home purchase and refinance needs.”

As in many industries, many women in senior housing leadership occupy marketing, communication and human resources roles, precisely the roles designed to rise to the occasion.

“I held myself and the team accountable to ensure that we had virtual face time with each of our direct reports,” said Victoria Gillespie, chief marketing and communication officer for the National Association of Realtors. “We initiated best practices around virtual and consistent communication.”

T he s a m e a p p r o a c h f r a m e d Gillespie’s external communication: if she was a resource for her team and for NAR, then member agents could take their cues accordingly and be re-

sources for their local communities. “We called this a resiliency plan, not a ‘COVID plan,’” said Gillespie.

The nature and intensity of 2020’s events could signal a permanent shift in how the housing industry values women’s traditional strengths, according to business school academics who study gender roles in the workplace.

“I’d be surprised if we went back to business as usual,” said Laurens Bujold Steed, an assistant professor of management at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. “Employers have to be more thoughtful about sick leave, taking leave, caregiving and working from home, and there are a lot of psychological impacts that employers will likely have to consider as well. Organizations may find that many of the policies they enacted benefit the organization and they may keep them.”

Crisis-induced change can be good, said Elizabeth McClean, an assistant professor of management within the University of Arizona’s Eller College of Management, who studies gender dynamics in leadership.

Given the glacial pace of advancement for women in most industries, including housing, a radical shake-up can break inertia and propel change that has been long in coming.

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“There is a chance that this pandemic might have some positive outcomes,” McClean said. “We might be better managers because of this. It will require having more women at the top but also having more men at the top explicitly recognizing the benefits of these behaviors.”

Karen Starns, chief marketing officer of OJO Labs, a technology company that has developed a personal artificial intelligence advisor, is acclimatized to male-dominated teams, she said. But the abrupt shift to all-remote, all the time challenged even her tech-immersed comfort zone.

“When you’re a successful woman leader, the tactics that work for you around a conference table may not directly translate to virtual work,” Starns said, who added that she is asserting herself more to ensure that all participants in virtual meetings are heard, including herself. “There are lots of tactics you can use in a room, like putting your hand on the table, and when you’re on Zoom you can’t use your presence in the same way.”

“One thing I learned earlier in my career is not ceding the floor,” Starns said. “I find that it is valuable to not say, ‘oh, you go ahead.’

If two people start talking, I’m going to say my piece and not always defer. I’m going to get my comment in.”

“We might be better managers because of this. It will require having more women at the top but also having more men at the top explicitly recognizing the benefits of these behaviors.”

In normal times, task-oriented leadership behaviors tend to be more valued, even though leadership effectiveness requires the ability to get things done and to have strong relationships.

“Since women are already expected to display compassion and communality, we are at a pivotal moment where we can explicitly shift the value we place on relationship-driven leader behaviors for both men and women, without anyone risking a backlash for doing so,” McClean said.

“People think of evolution as linear, but it’s not,” said Vipula Gandhi, a managing partner with Gallup, which constantly monitors American perspectives about leadership and workplace culture. “Unexpected high impact events create change at a very high pace. Women’s strong connection with the purpose of the organization, and their innate strengths provide them an edge in the current circumstances.”

“There will be a greater appreciation for women because men are seeing how well women are handling so many factors,” said Erica Bigley, Ellie Mae vice president of corporate communications.

The pandemic forced Ellie Mae to transfer its annual user conference to the virtual realm. The silver lining to that cloud quickly shone: 6,000 customers, partners, prospective customers and employees signed up to attend from their desks, compared to 2,500

who’d registered for the on-site event.

Meanwhile, working largely from home, Ellie Mae’s staff of 2,000 continued to help lenders manage a record volume of mortgage refinances.

“I think we’ll look back in 10 years and realize this period was worse than we thought,” said Courtney Graham, Princeton Mortgage senior vice president of marketing and people. Executive teams are discovering previously hidden fault lines and have a chance, as the dust settles, to realign their dynamics accordingly, she said.

The true moment of change will come when male leaders realize the power of women’s strengths and deliberately decide to incorporate an understanding of some of those skills into their own leadership style, said Gandhi.

“If we incorporated women’s empathetic and inclusive approach into the traditionally male style of data-driven and strategic decision-making, an entire leadership team will be better positioned for success” she said. “It’s not about one gender’s skill or aptitude versus the other. It’s a blend of both that brings out our best.”

Wom of

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Influence This year’s Women of Influence winners represent 100 of the most influential women in leadership in the housing industry. From tech advancements to mentoring to their engagement in nonprofits, these women are showing true leadership inside and out of the housing industry. They are using their positions to bring others along their path and propel the next generation of women into leadership.

During this time especially, many women spearheaded efforts to move employees to remote offices, provide help to the community around them and even set up training to help their teams as more digital workflows were implemented.

Women rose through the challenges to provide leadership and influence the world around them.

Min Alexander | Nancy Alley | Megan Anderson | Amanda Andrade | Patty Arvielo | Sara Avery | AJ Barkley | Debbie Beier | Kristina Bennett | Erica Bigley | Laura Brandao | Alison Brown | Jill Cadwell | Charlotte Catalfo | Genger Charles | Chao Cong | Annette Cotton | Carol Crawford | Cate Dalton | Dava Davin | Terri Davis | Dana Dillard | Kelly Ann Doherty | Angela Dunham | Riham El–Lakany | Laura Escobar | Denee Evans | Vanessa Famulener | Pam Faulkner | Lisa Fenske | Kristy Fercho | Dana Fortin | Renee Galitis | Doreen Ghusar | Victoria Gillespie | Annie Gotch | Courtney Graham | Laura Grannemann | Jennifer Grasso | Jennifer Hannah | Lisa Heitzmann | Jennifer Henry | Christina Jenkins | Jevonna Johnson | Tawn Kelley | Amy Keyser | Risha Kilaru | Lisa Kimball | Katie King | Elana Knoller | Debbie Knotts | Kara Lamphere | Laura LaRaia

| Annette Lowder | Regina Lowrie | Camelia Martin | Jane Mason | Shannon McGahn

2020

| Kerry Melcher | Terri Merlino | JonnĂŠ Mikita | Andrea Mitchell | Rachel Morley

| Veronica Nguyen | Kimberly Nichols | Qingqing Ouyang | Lisa Patterson | Fiona

Petrie | Rocio Portella | Courtney Poulos | Cecelia Raine | Anna Ratanawan | Chrissi

Rhea | Marilyn Richardson | Lynn Riedel | Sara Rodriguez | Nicole Rueth | Leora Ruzin

| Trina Scott | Aleksandra Simanovsky | Michele Sims | Anju Sogi | Leanne Spies | Karen Starns | Crystal Sumner | Katie

Sweeney | Kara Taylor | Pinky Telreja | Jo Ann Theriault-Fazio | Ann Thorn |

Mercedes Vela | Janette Waller | Cristy Ward | Gayle Weiswasser | Jacqueline

Welch | Cheryl Wiebe | Joni Wolfswinkel | Janina Woods | Ramie Word | Yulia Yutsis

RIHAM EL-LAKANY

VICTORIA GILLESPIE

Vice President and Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, Single-Family Division

Chief Marketing and Communications Officer

National Association of Realtors

Freddie Mac

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s vice president and chief marketing and communications officer for Freddie Mac Single-Family, Riham El-Lakany supports the business through comprehensive, effective marketing and communications campaigns and initiatives. Under El-Lakany’s leadership and direction, her team launched Freddie Mac’s newly designed single-family website and new Single-Family Guide online experience in May 2019 with more than 500 pages on the website and over 3,000 pages in the revised guide. In the last year, the company’s single-family communications grew rapidly in both quantity and quality. Under El-Lakany’s direction, the communications team sent 4 million emails to support more than 700 campaigns. El-Lakany and her team also launched new several new marketing and communications channels, including a podcast series called Home Starts Here, covering dozens of timely topics and featuring top industry experts; a series of digital books on topics that Freddie Mac’s clients care about most; a new online magazine titled Sightline, offering clients the insights and perspectives to help them succeed; and a variety of thought leadership articles aimed at raising awareness and exploring new trends and opportunities. El-Lakany has also been a driving force of #LeadingTheWay, helping to launch Freddie Mac’s campaign focused on the advancement of women in the workplace.

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t was more than 30 years ago when Victoria Gillespie began her professional career as a branch manager in the financial services industry. During her tenure, Gillespie held senior-level sales and marketing posts at Sandy Spring Bank and Realtors Federal Credit Union, and specialized in residential sales as a Realtor herself. After joining the National Association of Realtors staff in late 2018, Gillespie complately transformed the once-siloed marketing, communications and events staff into a single, cohesive group whose output is strategically driven and unified in look, feel, tone and messaging. Under Gillespie’s leadership as chief marketing and communications officer, NAR launched “That’s Who We R,” its most successful consumer advertising campaign to date with over 2.34 billion impressions and 42.4 million social media engagements. In the last 12 months, Gillespie developed a new structure for the more than 70-person group, organizing it into multiple disciplines while setting the tone thanks to her vibrant personality, high energy and tireless drive.

She also led efforts that required coordinating content from more than a dozen key subject matter experts across the association to ensure that all messaging disseminated added value, helped members become or remain successful in the real estate industry, and reinforced what NAR is doing on members’ behalf.

KAREN STARNS

KARA TAYLOR

Chief Marketing Officer

Vice President of Marketing

OJO Labs

ATTOM Data Solutions

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ith expertise in product marketing, customer acquisition and digital initiatives at fast-growing companies including Microsoft, Amazon and Pearson, Karen Starns is a force within the consumer tech space. Driven by a passion for helping brands connect with their customers in a meaningful way, Starns is always brainstorming how companies can deploy cutting-edge technologies to better anticipate and meet consumer needs. Now, as chief marketing officer at OJO Labs, Starns focuses the majority of her attention on the revamping of OJO Labs’ brand to better reach a rapidly increasing number of consumers through the company’s proprietary AI advisor for homebuying, OJO. In addition to overseeing all aspects of marketing strategy, Starns is also committed to building a culture at her company that encourages mission-driven thinking with her motto “Earn trust – never forget the lives we impact.” Outside of the office space, Starns actively mentors emerging female leaders through various programs. A participant in the Vital Voices and Bank of America Global Ambassador program, Starns was matched with and continues to serve as an advisor and mentor to the CEO of social enterprise Cielo Hammocks and non-profit Cielo Foundation. Furthermore, Starns was a founding member of the Advisory Board for the University of Tedas’ McCombs School of Business, Master of Science in Marketing program.

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nown within her company as a passionate and driven leader, Kara Taylor has proven time and time again her ability to execute hands-on tactical strategies. As vice president of marketing at ATTOM Data solutions, Taylor utilizes her 15 years of industry experience to grow various marketing teams focused on lead generation and brand awareness. Taylor is one of two female members on ATTOM’s seven-member executive leadership team. As a member of the leadership team, she actively contributes to several strategic initiatives bringing more comprehensive real estate data to the marketplace. Prior to joining ATTOM, Taylor developed and grew various marketing teams focused on lead generation and brand awareness. Helping young girls follow in her footsteps, Taylor also played a significant role in ATTOM’s partnership with Girls Inc. of Orange County to offer local high school girls an opportunity to explore career options in their areas of interest. Within the partnership, Taylor participated in several interactive activities including focusing on topics such as workforce development, financial literacy and college preparedness. Taylor is also an active member of her Laguna Beach, California community, where she served on the Parent Teacher Association Board for Top of the World Elementary School. Kara also provided pro bono marketing services for the current California State Assemblywoman in District 74.

MIN ALEXANDER

NANCY ALLEY

General Manager and Chief Operating Officer

Vice President of Strategic Planning

Auction.com

Simplifile

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MEGAN ANDERSON

AMANDA ANDRADE

Vice President of Marketing

Chief People Officer

MBS Highway

Veterans United Home Loans

s general manager and chief operating officer of Auction. com, Min Alexander drives the strategy and development of Auction.com buyer technology and tools to transform how real estate buyers and sellers interact for optimal outcomes.

Alexander is also leading innovation through new machine learning and AI applications to solve common real estate industry problems.

Most recently, she was behind the launch of Direct Offer, a feature that lets buyers make offers directly to sellers on select bank-owned properties in an online format, and Remote Bid, a mobile app feature that lets buyers bid remotely on select in-person foreclosure properties. Over the past two years, Alexander created a number of team wins at Auction.com, including increased performance and quality, increased scale and reach, mobile bidding and sales and innovations to support investor needs. Within her company Alexander leads a team of 700 professionals who manage the sale of more than 140,000 exclusive listings annually. To ensure productivity Alexander has a passion for team development to empower the most valuable resource in the business: leadership and human capital. She is motivated to build high-performing teams to serve buyers and sellers through innovation, collaboration and a relentless focus on customer service.

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egan Anderson is relatively new to the mortgage space, but already her influence has been felt by thousands of industry professionals. As vice president of marketing at MBS Highway, she has interviewed some of the top minds in the mortgage and real estate space in her podcast, Behind the Breakthrough. In this podcast, Anderson tells the stories of todays leaders, before they were leaders. She is also featured on the daily video MBS Highway puts out which reaches more than 20,000 subscribers. Anderson’s message focuses on inspiring loan originators and real estate agents to face their fears of social media while promoting themselves and their business online. She also inspires others to not let fear and self-judgment get in the way of reaching their goals or helping clients.

Not only has she been an inspiration, but she has also personally held the hand of so many to overcome this fear, from creating social video scripts, content calendars and online webinars. She has introduced systems and platforms that effectively create content and increase engagement. Anderson also travels around the U.S sharing her own story. With hands-on mentorship, Anderson is helping industry leaders and professionals navigate an ever-changing digital platform. As a result, Anderson has become a local trusted celebrity and advisor in her community.

n her almost 30-year career, Nancy Alley has become an influential force in the advancement of mortgage technology and guiding the mortgage industry into the digital age. Alley led product management and strategic planning for several key players in the industry – all with the goal of making an end-to-end digital mortgage the industry standard. Since joining Simplifile in 2013, she has helped drive its business strategy, which was a key factor in Simplifile’s acquisition by Intercontinental Exchange in 2019. These efforts include forging strategic partnerships with technology providers such as Ellie Mae and Docutech to craft a technology-driven environment that connects lenders and settlement agents and drives digital workstreams. By establishing these integrations with Simplifile’s suite of loan collaboration, eRecording and post-closing services, Alley created an ecosystem in which lenders leverage county-by-county eEligibility data to safely maximize the degree to which every loan can be executed digitally while also providing a standardized process for all closing scenarios (fully digital, hybrid or ink). In addition to serving as a past MISMO eMortgage workgroup co-chair, Alley also served on the MISMO strategic planning committee, MBA RESTECH Forum, Freddie Mac’s Vendor Advisory Board and the GSE’s UCD Advisory Board.

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manda Andrade has become one of the most prominent human resources executives in the mortgage industry through her work in Veterans United People Services Division. In 2019, she was instrumental in expanding Veterans United workforce by 30% with the addition of more than 1,000 new employees – including a 17% increase in the number of production team members. She also oversaw the expansion of the Veterans United corporate offices in St. Louis. Andrade's works have been praised across the industry, including through the Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2018 Residential Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Award. Her input has been cited by Fortune Magazine as it included Veterans United in multiple listings of the best workplaces in the nation. Andrade’s indefatigable spirit and passion for helping others can be seen outside of her company as well: she serves on the boards of directors of several Missouri-based nonprofits including Regional Economic Development and First Chance for Children. She also serves on the Personnel Advisory Board for the city of Columbia and advises the city council on the status of the municipal personnel system. Andrade is also on the executive board as well as the advisory council of the Inclusive Impact Institute, an organization that uses education to promote diverse and inclusive communities.

SARA AVERY

President and Cofounder

Senior Vice President, Chief Risk Officer

New American Funding

Common Securitization Solutions

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atty Arvielo is committed to empowering and teaching today’s women and minorities to be tomorrow’s mortgage leaders. A first-generation Latina with 39 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Arvielo is a self-made leader of a company with a servicing portfolio of over 128,000 loans for $31.3 billion. Arvielo continues to influence the entire industry in terms of lending policy while rallying on behalf of the upward mobility of women and minorities in the workplace. As president and cofounder of New American Funding, Arvielo leads by example as she manages operations and sales for the company’s headquarters, 198 nationwide branches and more than 3,200 employees. Her expertise and influence extend to numerous committees within the industry, including the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals the Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee and the Mortgage Bankers Association Affordable Homeownership Advisory Council. Arvielo is a former member of the Fannie Mae Affordable Housing Advisory Council and Freddie Mac’s Community Lender Advisory Board and Affordable Housing Council. Outside the office, she currently serves on the National Park Foundation Board of Directors and is a member of the Executive Board of Big Brothers and Sisters Orange County.

ith nearly 20 years of experience, Sara Avery spent the last six years enhancing risk management and employing guidance with Common Securitization Solutions. Avery led the effort to ensure operational readiness of CSS to support the implementation of the UMBS in June 2019. Avery's leadership in the company’s risk management function ensured the maintenance of safe and sound operations – which allowed a flawless transition to a new platform that currently manages nearly $5 trillion in securitization issuance and administration. Her ongoing responsibilities include ensuring that all risks are well understood and effectively mitigated to meet the level of service required of CSS. Prior to joining CSS, Avery spent nine years at Freddie Mac in a variety of senior roles focused on strengthening risk management. Avery’s coaching style focuses on empowering across the organization, and encourages “one team” for every challenge.

She is regarded as consistently pushing innovation and creativity to boost value for clients. Avery fosters trust with her teammates by communicating openly with others, sharing feedback in a constructive fashion, and addressing problematic situations head-on. By letting each member of her team stretch within their roles, she inspires her team members to reach their personal best.

AJ BARKLEY

DEBBIE BEIER

Senior Vice President, Neighborhood Lending Executive, Consumer Lending

Chief Operating Officer

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

PATTY ARVIELO

GO Mortgage

Bank of America

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ebbie Beier is a key player in the modernization and amplification of GO Mortgage and its position in the mortgage industry.

In her role as the company's chief opperating officer, she has been able to bring servicing in-house in order to increase profits and improve the overall customer’s experience. Beier is also the architect of the company’s service platform for GSF Mortgage/GO Mortgage’s single close construction offering. After coordinating the entire project, she then methodically trained and educated each department on it, from processing to closing. Her organization and determination to bring the right pieces in-house is one of many reasons why Beier is a mentor to multiple employees within GO Mortgage. Additionally, it was her tenacity that enabled the company to be one of a few lenders to receive a conventional variance from Fannie Mae. Beier’s emotional intelligence enables her to shift and adapt to any situation, whether with vendors, customers or employees. Historically, Beier is known to never back down from a challenge, and if a problem lands on her desk, she does not delegate it, she boldy handles the issue at hand and works until it is resolved. Due to her strong leaderhsip, Beier won the Best in Leadership award from the Milwaukee Chapter of the Wisconsin Mortgage Bankers Association and serves on the advisory board at Lenders One.

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n her role, AJ Barkley is tasked with finding ways to drive successful homeownership among low-to moderate-income borrowers, underserved communities, and multicultural borrowers in all economic situations. Barkley is responsible for implementing the megabank’s commitment to affordable, responsible lending, including home, auto and small business loans, through strategies designed to educate and inform. Recently, Barkley headed up efforts to create and raise awareness of Bank of America’s Community Homeownership Commitment, an initiative intended to put buyers on the path to affordable and sustainable homeownership. As part of that program, Bank of America committed $5 billion in the form of grant programs designed to help prospective homebuyers with down payment and closing costs. According to the bank, the program will help more than 20,000 individuals and families become homeowners. Barkley’s work also strengthened the bank’s connections with first-time homebuyers as well as multicultural and low-to moderate-income clients. Outside of her important role at Bank of America, Barkley also serves as the co-executive sponsor of the Black Professional Group of North Texas and launched the Black Women Ready to Lead initiative, where she is invested in the professional and personal development of employees in the Dallas area.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

KRISTINA BENNETT

ERICA BIGLEY

Senior Vice President of Sales

Vice President of Corporate Communications and Branding

United Wholesale Mortgage

Ellie Mae

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rica Bigley boasts a track record for enabling companies to achieve strategic and financial objectives. Her passion to help companies and leaders share their stories, to create a voice for solutions to problems, and to expand narratives beyond just marketing has been the driving force behind her success. As vice president of corporate communications and branding at Ellie Mae, Bigley is responsible for driving the voice and vision of origination and acquisition technology within the company. Since joining Ellie Mae in 2015, Bigley also leads the external communications with lenders, partners and the media. She is also responsible for the internal communications to the nearly 2,000 Ellie Mae teammates, the company's corporate full-service creative services function, content marketing including emails, blogs and videos, social media endeavors and the Ellie Mae website. Bigley’s leadership style channels a down-to-earth relatability which enables her to solve challenges that arise so her team can continue to move forward. Bigley also leads multiple events that focus on giving-back initiatives. One example is the Ellie Mae Classic Golf Tournament, which she developed and leads herself. In 2019, the tournament contributed more than $250,000 in total charitable donations, with $100,000 going to MBA Opens Doors.

LAURA BRANDAO

ALISON BROWN

President

Senior Vice President of Operations

American Financial Resources

LivCor

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s one of the original 12 team members of the United Wholesale Mortgage team, Kristina Bennett has been instrumental in UWM’s growth from a Top 200 lender to the Top 2 overall lender in the U.S., as well as the No. 1 wholesale lender in the country. From the first quarter of 2019 to the first quarter of 2020, Bennett and her team at UWM helped more than 1,000 mortgage professionals transition from the retail lending channel and other industries to the independent channel. Bennett embodies an unwavering commitment to ensure every client touchpoint maximizes their ability to seamlessly onboard with UWM, start their own business or reach their company growth goals. Her passion for client success resulted in many leadership positions over the years, with her most recent promotion to that of senior vice president of sales in the first quarter of 2020. As the driven leader of UWM’s sales team, Bennett’s top priority is growing the wholesale channel and supporting mortgage brokers everywhere by providing resources and tools that they can use at any stage of their career. By utilizing her 26 years of experience in the housing industry, Bennett has been able to fuel her passion at UWM for helping her team members not only reach their goals but exceed them.

or more than two decades, Laura Brandao has been assessing the needs of the mortgage industry and responding. As president of American Financial Resources, she leads the company in developing unique products to support the ever-changing demands of the housing market. Brandao has been a consistent voice for new product development, as well as placing technology at the forefront of the mortgage process. Guided by her vision, AFR created several technological innovations such as AskAFR through Amazon’s Alexa, as well as the One-Time Close Portal. Recently, Brandao led the launch of a new certification program for lending partners.

Recognizing her growing audience as a public figure, Brandao is personally committed to consistently providing inspiring content for others through her SayYesEverday.com blog, PositivelyCharged.biz podcast, and #MotivationalMonday videos shared on social media.

Brandao also serves as the effervescent leader of the AIME Women’s Mortgage Network and spearheaded the organization’s launch event which highlighted collaboration, communication and empowerment in the industry. With an infectious enthusiasm, Brandao is increasingly passionate about guiding families to the home that is right for them.

Always open to meeting new people and sharing encouraging words, selfie photo requests with her at events have grown in popularity.

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efore arriving at LivCor, Alison Brown already had an extensive career in leadership and operations at the Ritz Carlton, Equity Residential and Steadfast Companies. Today, Brown leads the operational arm of the Blackstone multifamily portfolio Good Owner program, setting the national expectations for how LivCor operating partners embrace residents and local communities with integrity and service. In the midst of the pandemic, Brown amplified her role by becoming the quarterback of the operational response, acting as the information hub for the 32 operating partners while LivCor defined new systems, processes and standards to take care of both team members and residents through unprecedented times. Not only did this leadership set the standard for LivCor communities, but it helped influence the standards for the operations of over 1 million apartments across LivCor’s operating partners. Brown’s leadership style demonstrates her focus on influence, not authority, and consistently finds her in a service-oriented mindset. Brown is one of the two leaders of SEED (Support, Empower, Engage, Develop), LivCor’s program to engage and develop more women in the organization and industry. Brown acts as a mentor to all the women in the organization and has helped her company to hire more women in asset management and finance.

AUGUST 2020

CHARLOTTE CATALFOF

Senior Vice President of Title Operations

Senior Vice President of Enterprise Operations

Radian Title Services

Freddie Mac

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GENGER CHARLES

CHAO CONG

Senior Director of Government Relations and Strategy

Vice President of Business Strategy, Data and Analytics

Amherst Residential

Black Knight

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enger Charles brings more than a decade of experience in mortgage, housing finance, legal and public policy to her role at Amherst, where she formulates the company’s government relations strategies and environmental, social and corporate governance policies. From 2014 to 2017, she served as the general deputy assistant secretary at the Office of Housing and Deputy Commissioner for the Federal Housing Administration, and was formerly a senior policy advisor and the first chief of staff to the FHA Commissioner. Today, Charles works alongside Amherst CEO Sean Dobson and President Drew Flahive in tackling the major challenges facing the housing environment, particularly the still-glaring problem of inequities in the system. With Charles at the helm, the company has cogently addressed the housing needs for Americans of all income levels while partnering with municipal governments to support economic growth and access at local levels. One of her most significant recent accomplishments was coordinating the publication of crucial research using Amherst’s proprietary data on the economic perils that renters faced during the economic tumult brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Charles leveraged this research to develop public awareness, engage stakeholders and advocates across numerous sectors to highlight the extraordinary impact of crisis on rental housing.

harlotte Catalfof spent more than two decades in the mortgage industry, including executive roles at Vertice, Wachovia and Freddie Mac. Catalfo is a member of Freddie Mac's Senior Operating Committee, providing leadership and strategy on operational risks, including business resiliency, treasury operations and payment risks. Over the past year, Catalfof ramped up Freddie Mac's business continuity/resiliency planning and testing program. She organized and oversaw an effort that engaged the entire company in preparing for various disaster scenarios. Her successes included a company-wide exercise simulating a technology issue at a partner company. Catalfof and her team took lessons from this exercise and drove refinements in planning down to individual departments.

When the COVID-19 virus appeared in late 2019, Catalfof ramped up Freddie Mac's planning and preparation for a pandemic, producing a multi-scenario plan tuned to the threat. The company deployed Catalfof's plan beginning in February 2020 and was prepared with the infrastructure, personnel, strategy and communications that helped Freddie Mac manage the crisis. In the early stages of the pandemic, Freddie Mac moved more than 95% of its staff to remote work, managing a $2.2 trillion mortgage portfolio without significant disruption.

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s vice president of business strategy for Black Knight Data and Analytics, Chao Cong plays a critical role in providing the data and research for key stakeholders across the industry. This includes overseeing Black Knight’s Home Price Index, which enables mortgage professionals to quickly evaluate portfolio equity and determine the potential for loss. Chao is also responsible for Black Knight’s Index Suite, which complements the index with an overview of prepayment and credit market performance. Her expertise and insights are increasingly used by mortgage and real estate professionals throughout the mortgage process to increase market share and reduce risk. Her unique skill set combines a strong quantitative and analytical background built on in-depth experience in data research and behavior modeling to turn large-scale data into actionable recommendations that drive business opportunities. In her role, she leads a diverse group of data-focused professionals and is responsible for Black Knight’s analytics solutions, including the AFT Prepayment and Credit Model, Mortgage Scores and Dialer Optimizer.

In addition to her financial services modeling and leadership experience, Chao is a chartered financial analyst and a certified financial risk manager, as well as an author and researcher for Black Knight industry white papers.

AUGUST 2020

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ill Cadwell is a 30-year industry veteran who has spent the last two years rapidly improving the operations within Radian Title Services. Cadwell’s reputation precedes her, as a passionate developer of innovative production and technology solutions with rock-solid teams. Past operations, Cadwell spearheaded key initiatives including the development of a digital processing platform and digital portal. After the emergence of the COVID-19 crisis, Cadwell seamlessly turned Radian’s Title Services business into a fully remote, and fully operational, enterprise literally overnight. Cadwell ensured that the roughly 225 Title Services employees in three states had the tools and systems they needed to work from home successfully amid such a demanding environment. In the last year, Cadwell led a major effort to leverage bot technology to automate certain administrative aspects of the title process, including the roll out of additional bot functionalities across its title systems. Even as Radian’s title-related businesses had grown by nearly 200 percent during Cadwells’s tenure, service-related metrics stayed the same or increased. Her leadership relies on “skills-based routing,” a process improvement that involves leveraging data and technology to ensure that work is assigned to the best-qualified person for the task.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

JILL CADWELL

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

ANNETTE COTTON

CAROL CRAWFORD

Vice President of Data Operations

Chief Marketing Officer

DataTree by First American

Closing Corp

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CATE DALTON

DAVA DAVIN

Executive Vice President, Customer Advocacy

Founder and President

Mortgage Cadence

Portside Real Estate Group

ith more than 30 years of industry experience, Annette Cotton possesses expert knowledge of real estate data. She earned her leadership status by working in every role that supports data manufacturing, including source acquisition, data extraction, research, quality and delivery. In her role as vice president of data operations, Cotton leads more than 150 employees and manages client fulfillment, captive offshore production and vendor oversight.

She actively contributes to building the market-leading suite of data assets serving the financial services market segment. For example, Cotton led a revolutionary change to the methods used to manufacture data with modern tools and technology, collecting 60% more data at a reduced cost and achieving higher quality standards than manual methods. Under her leadership, First American has become the largest provider of title plant data, which represents the deepest, regionally sourced collection of public records available. As a result, clients experience the highest data accuracy and completeness of any source and see a competitive advantage when they use DataTree products like the national HOA database and PACE loan monitoring.

Internally, Cotton advocates for female executives and created the Future Women in Leadership program.

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n just a few months as executive vice president of customer advocacy at Mortgage Cadence, Cate Dalton has already had a significant impact on the company’s operations. Dalton was promoted into her current role in January, and in the months since then, she has already redefined the ways that Mortgage Cadence can be customer-centric both strategically and tactically. In her first month in the role, Dalton traveled to 15 different customer sites in order to speak to them directly about what they needed from Mortgage Cadence.

Following those meetings and the information she gathered from them, Dalton quickly acted and launched several initiatives. One of those was the Mortgage Cadence Customer Advisory Council, built on a diverse and expansive representation of customer markets. Through this council, Dalton is taking initiative to ensure that every decision made by the company involves its customers. Additionally, Dalton introduced and launched MBA Online education to every employee at the organization to ensure that every customer is met with understanding and knowledge of their business. Prior to her promotion, Dalton served as product manager for the Enterprise Lending Center.

Driven by her passion for the customer experience, Dalton played a key role in changing the way Mortgage Cadence developed features and provided value for its customers.

arol Crawford embodies ClosingCorp’s culture of innovation and efficiency. A member of the original core team that conceived, built and grew the company, she has played major roles in acquisitions, tech collaborations and client relations, in addition to her marketing and brand development responsibilities. This year, ClosingCorp completed the successful acquisition of WESTvm, an order management platform. Crawford was involved with the due diligence and development of a corporate strategy to integrate the new technology into the company’s existing product suite. Since the acquisition, new sales of ClosingCorp’s Order Management platform, formerly known as WESTvm have exceeded company expectations, largely in part of the comprehensive go-to-market plan developed and rolled out by Crawford. Crawford’s multifaceted approach to launching new products, branding, strategically placed media communications and indispensable product training materials for employees and customers alike made the acquisition a complete success. In 2019, Crawford also led the rebranding of all company products to help the market understand the expanded solution suite and the benefits of using ClosingCorp solutions from fee quoting through service ordering, and upgrading the company’s website to reflect its new brand.

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ith a passion to make a difference, a handful of agents and a small office in Falmouth, Maine, Dava Davin founded Portside Real Estate in 2012. Now, eight years later, Davin’s dream is the fifth-largest real estate company in the state. With five unique offices, Davin owns and operates the largest solely female-owned real estate company in Maine. That force of female empowerment revealed itself again when Davin was named honorary chair of the non-profit Girls on the Run. Davin built her business by the law of attraction - believing that what you focus on expands. In an industry where turnover of agents is 20% to 25% annually, turnover at her company averages just about 4%. Davin's reach and influence also expands into the community. In 2018 her motto “make doing good easy” transcended itself when she established the Portside Foundation.

Together, Davin and her foundation team host Portside Gives Back events that directly benefit local non-profits, while raising more than $60,000 annually. The foundation also contributes a portion of every commission earned to their non-profit partners. Goal setting and being better today than she was yesterday carries over outside the office in her passion for endurance sports. Davin completed several marathons including qualifying for the Boston Marathon multiple times and is a four-time IRONMAN finisher.

AUGUST 2020

Executive Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility

Ellie Mae

Mr. Cooper Group

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or more than 20 years, Terri Davis has been a tireless advocate and leader across several different segments of the mortgage industry. After various leadership stints within the housing realm, including PMI and Fannie Mae, Davis joined Ellie Mae in 2017 to lead the modernization and integration of the AllRegs platform.

Under Davis’ leadership as the business’s general manager, the Ellie Mae AllRegs team was able to revamp its go-to market strategy to better enable customers as part of the overall Ellie Mae digital lending platform. She also assisted in the assimilation of a new solution interface that allows clients greater ease of use and utility to quickly make real-time decisions. As the freshly promoted vice president of client management, Davis serves as the voice of Ellie Mae’s customer base to ensure their needs are met – working cross-functionally across product, finance, marketing and operations teams. As a strong and organizational leader, Davis utilized her deep knowledge of customer’s imperatives to fuel creativity and empower their success.

Outside of the office, she is actively engaged in women’s leadership as a participant in several industry working groups. And Davis works internally at Ellie Mae within the Women in Leadership program to lead and mentior the next generation of leaders. .

ana Dillard plays an integral role in advocating for the American dream of homeownership as she fosters Mr. Cooper’s relationships with industry and government officials. Dillard leads efforts to support communities and homeowners in need through partnerships with government and non-profit housing organizations.

Dillard spearheaded Mr. Cooper’s efforts to obtain a liquidity facility for all mortgage servicers who must continue to advance payments on behalf of homeowners in forbearance plans. In addition to leading government relations efforts, Dillard’s made a consistent effort toward the creation of Mr.Cooper’s diversity and inclusion program, where she was dedicated to creating an inclusive environment. Under Dillards’s leadership, the diversity and inclusion program grew to include more than 15 employee resource groups with more than 3,500 active members. Dillard’s goal is to make a positive impact through mentorship, volunteerism and championing of minority groups. Dillard expressed time and time again that leading others through change and challenging times has been the cornerstone of her success. Dillard also received the Five Star Institute’s Humanitarian Award for her efforts with HOPENOW, where she traveled around the country talking to hundreds of struggling families following the 2008 financial crisis.

KELLY ANN DOHERTY

ANGELA DUNHAM

Chief People and Communications Officer

Chief Operating Officer

Mr. Cooper Group

OJO Labs

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ithin just three years at Mr. Cooper, Kelly Ann Doherty was promoted from senior vice president of corporate communications to the chief operating officer, a member of the executive team, to now serving as their chief people and communications officer. Within her role, Doherty is responsible for the company’s culture initiatives to create a more encouraging and empowering work environment. Last fall, Doherty led the launch of the Mr. Cooper Group Benefits Marketplace for annual enrollment and is a strong advocate for employee motivation through regular surveys and feedback channels. Because of her push for employee feedback, Doherty was able to spearhead several employee centered initiatives which led to a variety of team members receiving benefits they had never had before. She believes that trust is the foundation of a great culture and human connections help maximize the potential and productivity of teams. Outside the office, Doherty is a member of the Unstoppable Cultures Fellowship and served as a guest coach in the fellowship’s training program to support executives and company leaders through their own culture transformations. Additionally, Doherty is frequently invited to speak at industry and local events including the NEXT conferences and events with the Dallas chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

rior to her success at OJO Labs, COO Angela Dunham tucked more than 25 years of experience under her belt – honing her skills in management and operations roles at global companies including MCI, Yodle and most recently on the executive leadership team at Web.com. Today, as the head of operations, Dunham consistently instills the company’s mission of “empowering consumers to make better decisions” into the day-to-day workings of the organization. She oversees program management, working alongside every team at OJO Labs to ensure cross-functionalities across the company achieve their goals in a timely manner. Underpinned by program management excellence, Dunham guarantees that every employee is equipped to uphold the company mission and deliver upon its goals. Though based in Austin, Dunham made several strides at the St. Luica office where she successfully established the company’s customer engagement, AI trainer and concierge teams, starting with an initial class of 29 and scaling the organization to more than 220 employees in less than one year. Further, Dunham has been an advocate for building team culture outside of everyday work, including establishing OJO Cares to allow employees to give back to the community, creating a dog-friendly work environment, and supporting a variety of interest groups.

AUGUST 2020

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DANA DILLARD

Vice President of Client Management

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

TERRI DAVIS

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

LAURA ESCOBAR

DENEE EVANS

President

CEO

Eagle Home Mortgage

Council of Multiple Listing Services

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aura Escobar oversees the mortgage lending subsidiary of one of the nation’s leading homebuilders, Lennar Corp. Rising through the ranks to become president of Eagle Home Mortgage, Escobar leads a team of more than 1,100 associates in 54 locations across 26 states and has made it a priority to meet, talk and listen to every employee. Under her leadership, Eagle has transformed into a digital-first organization, lowering origination costs by more than $2,000 per loan, while increasing customer satisfaction by double digits. This evolution wouldn't have been possible without a cultural transformation, one that inspired associates to become digital champions and adopt new programs with incredible speed and agility. As a 30-year mortgage industry veteran, Escobar has held leadership positions with both bank-owned and independent mortgage companies overseeing all aspects of mortgage banking. She currently sits on multiple advisory boards and committees, including TransUnion Mortgage Advisory Board, the Ellie Mae Executive Advisory Board and the Mortgage Action Alliance. Outside of the office, Escobar works with Women United, a chapter of the United Way. The chapter’s focus is on diversity and inclusion and moving people forward, and the goal of the group is to help women feel like they are having an impact.

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enee Evans hit the ground running after joining the Council of Multiple Listing Services in 2014. As CEO, Evans emerged as a leader and impassioned champion for her collaborative approach in a highly competitive industry. Evans consistently proved her dedication to clients after she highlighted Multiple Listing Services’ desire to better serve brokers and agents by considering the needs of consumers. Evans deemed the strategic evolution of MLS governance and leadership as essential and led to MLS policy advancement. She made a lasting impact in Nevada by developing a low interest, revolving loan fund for energy efficiency retrofits. She also transformed an official Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Initiative into a collaborative authority on energy efficiency that provided homeowners energy savings that infused capital into Nevada. Known to challenge the status quo, Evans was awarded the CMLX3 designation from CMLS for her proven contributions to the industry. Evans also serves on the President’s Associates Council at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, which invests in the future of the community through students, programs and other various efforts. She volunteers her time as an enthusiastic youth sports parent and coach, motivating young female athletes to realize their potential.

PAM FAULKNER

VANESSA FAMULENER

Director of Mortgage Solutions

SimpleNexus

General Manager

HomeLight Cash Close

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ince joining HomeLight to lead business operations two years ago, Vanessa Famulener has proven herself flexible, dynamic and willing to tackle whatever the company needs as it scales.

As general manager, Famulener started the year developing a strategy for HomeLight to build a home-financing division, researching various opportunities, and finally identifying Eave, an innovative digital mortgage startup, as an acquisition target. After successfully overseeing the merger, Famulener was instrumental in the integration and evolution of the two companies into the powerful lending platform, HomeLight Home Loans. Under Famulener’s leadership, HomeLight took home purchasing to a whole new level in January with the launch of the HomeLight Cash Close program. Famulener developed two game-changing products, HomeLight Trade-In and Cash Offer, with the goal of transforming the transaction experience, and introducing speed and certainty into an otherwise frustrating process. As she continues to pioneer revolutionary home purchase products and tools, Famulener is committed to making every real estate transaction simple, certain and less costly. Known to her peers as both a creative and a problem solver, Famulener’s leadership style is one that consistently encourages her team to take risks and get outside their comfort zone.

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am Faulkner joined SimpleNexus in February 2019 following a 13-year tenure at Ellie Mae, where she helped launch the Scenarios comparison tool within LO Connect, Ellie Mae’s mobile solution for originators. Since her arrival at SimpleNexus, the company has posted quadruple-digit growth and grown its team to include well over 100 employees – and many of the new arrivals received an informal mortgage education from Faulkner. She collaborates with the company’s training, product, sales and marketing teams to ensure projects are on target, and she also advises the customer success team on how they can encourage lenders to maximize their implementation of SimpleNexus. Faulkner was credited with the successful launch of SimpleNexus’ disclosures toolset – though perhaps “successful” is too mild a word because the company recorded a 93,272.3% increase in the number of disclosures packages delivered via mobile app each month. Paul Drobot, SimpleNexus vice president of sales, said it best when he stated: “Pam brings a dedication to the success of SimpleNexus and everyone in the company. She is well-respected by her vast network of mortgage contacts and has been a key resource for training our team members on technology and the industry, supporting the sales function and helping build out internal processes.”

AUGUST 2020

KRISTY FERCHO

Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Executive Vice President and President of Mortgage

Waterstone Mortgage

Flagstar Bank

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hen Kristy Fercho talks, people listen because she is so knowledgeable and so genuine. As head of mortgage at Flagstar Bank, she is responsible for the direction and oversight of all aspects of mortgage and secondary marketing for Flagstar, as well as for the continued expansion of Flagstar’s mortgage business. When Fercho started at Flagstar, one of the first things she did was spend more than a month talking personally with nearly every person in the mortgage division. She has also followed the lead of Flagstar’s CEO in making transparency a hallmark of how she runs the mortgage division. Early on, she created personal touchpoints by launching a monthly get together called a “Konversation with Kristy” that involves mortgage employees across the country, along with a “Breakfast Konversation with Kristy” for employees at headquarters.

Both seek feedback from randomly selected employees for candid, unplugged sessions with no specific agenda. Fercho has also been a leader in Flagstar’s diversity and inclusion initiative. Not only does she serve on the bank’s D&I Executive Advisory Council, but she also shared her own story frankly with employees and in public forums and interviews. Her involvement even extends to personally mentoring employees.

DANA FORTIN

RENEE GALITIS

Chief Marketing Officer

Chief Information Officer

Embrace Home Loans

Caliber Home Loans

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ana Fortin’s career in marketing spans more than two decades, including 18 years at Embrace Home Loans. Under her leadership, this past year Embrace became one of the few mortgage companies to launch conversational website landing pages powered by artificial intelligence to support borrower engagement.

She also led Embrace to become the first lender in the mortgage industry to use geolocation to target homebuyers when they are most engaged in looking for a home. Fortin has been on the forefront of launching several other ground-breaking initiatives at Embrace, where she oversees a staff of 35 and manages all marketing functions, including marketing automation, analytics, creative, brand, retail support, website, direct mail and all digital media. She led the company’s SEO team to more than double Embrace’s web traffic in the past year. Fortin has built a reputation as a mentor and has inspired many young women at all levels of the company to model themselves on her example. Last year, Fortin was named a Woman with Vision

by Mortgage Women Magazine and recognized by National Mortgage Professional Magazine on its list of Mortgage Banking’s Most Powerful Women of 2019. In addition, she recently became a Certified Coach by the International Coach Federation and was recognized by 20/20 Vision for Success Coaching.

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uring the coronavirus pandemic, Renee Galitis not only helped employees but also leveraged technologies to service customers. Her team quickly implemented technology measures to help more than 2,000 employees work from home. Under her leadership, the team also mobilized a servicing group and implemented forbearance technology, making it easier for customers in need of help. Galitis quickly recognized the importance of ensuring the forbearance request experience was seamless and efficient. Her recent work is the continuation of a stellar record. In 2019, Galitis’ team increased operations and capacity that resulted in a record volume of loan applications at $61 billion. That Caliber could generate significant business speaks to the capacity and capabilities of the underlying technology which Galitis oversees as chief information officer.

She led the implementation of enabling technology to fortify Caliber’s proprietary loan origination system, which helps loan officers write loans quickly and efficiently. This initiative required architecting a technology plan to modernize the LOS in the first place with automation and artificial intelligence. In order to transform the technology, Galitis has maintained connectivity with the business, and she has championed a robust and transparent partnership among leaders throughout Caliber.

AUGUST 2020

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isa Fenske joined Waterstone Mortgage in the midst of the 2008 mortgage crisis, and hit the ground running. Fenske’s mantra focuses on spotlighting the amazing benefits of homeownership, and how it can improve many aspects of a person’s life. Fenske is a manager who encourages her employees to continue developing their talents and pursuing their professional interests to full fruition.

Fenske implemented the addition of countless marketing technology tools and spearheaded the digital and written efforts of expanding Waterstone’s brand nationwide. During her eight-year tenure with Waterstone, she led the launch of the company’s cultural competency training initiative and the development of marketing materials for Spanish-speaking consumers – which included working closely with NAHREP and NCS. Recently, Fenske introduced the company’s Charitable Contributions program, which invites corporate employees to nominate charities that they would like Waterstone to financially support. In 2019, Fenske also led Waterstone Mortgage’s efforts to co-sponsor Habitat for Humanity of Waukesha County’s Women Build event. After nearly 20 years of experience in the industry, Fenske continues to dedicate herself to streamlining operations and ensuring that employees understand the company’s mission, vision, and goals.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

LISA FENSKE

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DOREEN GHUSAR

ANNIE GOTCH

Senior Director of Regulatory Compliance

Associate Vice President, Wholesale Branch Manager

Roostify

Paramount Residential Mortgage Group

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COURTNEY GRAHAM

LAURA GRANNEMANN

Senior Vice President of Marketing and People

Vice President of Strategic Investments

Princeton Mortgage

Quicken Loans Community Fund

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husar’s two-decade career has included roles as a loan originator, a branch manager and a compliance manager. In the past 12 months at Roostify, Ghusar led the company to place accessibility – not just of the borrower-facing application, but also the lender-facing interface – at the top of the design and engineering agenda. Ghusar ensures Roostify’s offerings are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. She has a passion for ensuring people with speech ability issues, visual impairments or difficult typing or hearing all have equal access to the digital mortgage lending platform. Another recent accomplishment includes guiding the product team on a groundbreaking artificial intelligence project. Ghusar is the chair of the Roostify Women’s Network, offering leadership within the organization to discuss and advise on what tools and experiences are necessary to empower the company’s female employees. She often encourages men at the company to attend the events in order to provide awareness and how to collaborate together to meet similar goals.

Ghusar is a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s residential technology forum. There she collaborates with compliance officers across the industry to build clarity around tech issues for companies ranging from big banks down to small lenders.

s senior vice president of marketing and people, Courtney Graham primarily leads the marketing, people operations and affinity partnership teams, but her influence reaches company-wide. In 2019, Graham lead the creation of the affinity partnership channel which creates and fosters relationships with organizations and employers as a source of lead generation, providing an additional revenue stream for Princeton Mortgage. In the first year of implementation, the affinity channel has been a key factor in the company’s record-breaking numbers, as early adopters include multiple Fortune 200 companies and a federal organization. The company has reached more than 50,000 new prospects from this program. Graham also has curated omni-channel marketing campaigns – including direct mail, text messaging, email campaigns and social media retargeting – throughout Princeton Mortgage’s channels. In recent months, she stepped into a larger role that includes the people operations.

In her expanded position, Graham is focused on scaling Princeton Mortgage’s company culture as it adds additional markets in the coming months. Graham’s vision and influence has been a driving force leading to the organization’s rebranding overhaul and emergence on the national market, highlighted by 50 times growth over a two-year period.

ince day one, Annie Gotch consistently exceeded expectations as a top producing and loyal account executive at Paramount Residential Mortgage Group. Gotch is an industry veteran with more than 35 years as an account executive – the majority of that tenure at PRMG. As associate vice president and wholesale branch manager, Gotch was awarded membership in the PRMG President’s Cabinet, year after year. When Gotch joined PRMG, she brought along with her a plethora of existing broker business that led to the majority of PRMG’s initial growth. In her role, she is very in tune with PRMG’S loans programs and technologies. She utilizes this knowledge to better assist her brokers in elevating their performance. Known to her team as a passionate leader, Gotch is extremely attentive to her customers’ needs, while frequently exceeding their expectations. She made it her mission to provide her clients with the best experience and service possible every day. Over the years, Gotch stays actively involved in the tradeshow circuit, including local chapters of CAMP, while representing PRMG nationally. Her actions and consistent behaviors have demonstrated her to be a proven leader amongst her peers and customers, and a dedicated mentor to the broker community.

aura Grannemann founded the Quicken Loans Community Fund when she was 24 years old with the goal of increasing opportunities for residents of Detroit and other Quicken Loans home cities. As the philanthropic arm of Quicken Loans and the Rock Family of Companies, the fund was created to give residents access to safe and affordable housing and build wealth through homeownership.

As the vice president of strategic investments, Grannemann and her team drive systemic change through investing $30 million annually.

Her data-driven, human-centered investment strategy has allowed tens of thousands of low-income families to retain homeownership.

Over the last year, she has led her team to take on complex issues such as tax foreclosure and the lack of quality housing inventory, along with supporting those experiencing chronic and veteran homelessness. She built and operationalized a program called Rehabbed and Ready, which takes publicly owned houses, invests in complete rehab, and then sells the property at a loss in order to stabilize the housing market. Grannemann uses all of the business tools Quicken Loans offers in order to maximize the Quicken Loans Community Fund’s impact, finding innovative ways to build social, racial, and financial equity in each of Quicken Loans’ home communities: Detroit, Cleveland, Charlotte and Phoenix.

AUGUST 2020

JENNIFER HANNAH

Executive Creative Director

Assurance Partner

LUDWIG+

Richey May & Co

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fter a highly decorated 20-year career in the advertising industry, Jennifer Grasso turned her attention to a profession that would combine her sales skills with her passion for interior design and architecture: real estate. Grasso joined United Wholesale Mortgage as executive creative director where she made her mark in pushing the marketing and creative product to new heights with a 300% increase in brand awareness. Grasso spearheaded the massive brand transformation for the TMS Grow Happiness campaign, while her transformative work on SIMEfunkified changed the landscape in for the SIME servicing tech company. Grasso also led the rebrand of NAMB and Orlans PC, eTITLE, along with the launch of the new Revlegal. In the summer of 2019, Grasso spun off with her team to form the women-owned LUDWIG+ marketing agency. In just eight short months, Grasso grew her department to more than 20 creative professionals and digital technologists. Quick with praise or critique, mentoring and passing down what she has learned to do (and not do) over the years is a big part of her modus operandi. She leads by example, expecting excellence from her reports right down to the tiniest detail while always willing to lend a hand or nugget of knowledge where needed.

ennifer Hannah’s commitment to clients has earned her a reputation as a transformative leader. As the inaugural female assurance partner at Richey May, Hannah’s leadership led to revenue growth above projections, pushing her service lines to one of the top performers within the firm. Her engagement in process improvement led her to train numerous clients and even new entrants to the industry on hedging, mortgage servicing rights and mortgage banking. Hannah is also the co-founder of Elevate, Richey May’s diversity leadership program. As a champion ally for diversification Hannah focuses on the advancement of women and underrepresented groups in the industry. Hannah is also a leader at the firm in client-centered focus. Her knowledge of current trends and consistent communication with clients makes her a subject matter expert and has led her to teach Mortgage Banking 101 classes with the Mortgage Bankers Association. She is a model of understanding the client experience at a deep level, which makes her a trusted counselor for leaders at the companies Richey May serves. During the COVID-19 crisis, Hannah took on the role of co-leader of the client response team for questions clients may have about SBA Disaster Loans and the Paycheck Protection Program.

LISA HEITZMANN

JENNIFER HENRY

Senior Vice President of Enterprise Operations and Strategic Initiatives

Vice President of Strategy and Marketing

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

JENNIFER GRASSO

Equifax Mortgage and Housing Services

Xome

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ver the last two decades in the housing industry, Jennifer Henry has proven she is an innovative, results-oriented leader with more than 20 years of continued success in product, strategy, sales and management. Through her experience, she also holds a deep understanding of mortgage loan quality, loan origination, servicing and technology. Henry brings a wealth of experience and innovative ideas designed to fuel greater efficiencies and growth within the sectors. During her tenure at Equifax, she has enhanced Equifax’s ability to provide access to customer insights that fuel the entire mortgage process. Among her accomplishments this past year, Henry was instrumental in creating the Mortgage Servicing Product Bundle, designed to empower lenders with the data and analytics they need to combat issues ranging from mitigating delinquency risk and identifying portfolio retention strategies to increasing operational efficiencies with non-performing loans. Henry developed and deployed a new product innovation process that resulted in over 15 new product launches. She has also been instrumental in expanding Equifax into new market segments, most notably real estate and multi-family housing. Henry takes a unique approach to mentoring her team. She believes that success looks different for each individual, which requires goals and paths to success to be clearly defined for each person.

AUGUST 2020

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s part of Lisa Heitzmann’s nearly 30 years of experience, she is known at Xome as the go-to solutions provider, idea generator and project leader among her peers. Heitzmann helped the company develop new technologies, manage partnerships and unify the culture for both in-office and remote team members. Heitzmann and her team are taking the complexity and hassle of real estate transactions head-on and changing how the industry approaches mortgage defaults. She seeks to reinvent the loan lifecycle by simplifying processes, creating workflows and developing technologies to expedite various real estate financing and servicing processes. Most recently, Heitzmann helped spearhead a comprehensive end-to-end default services platform that allows banks and servicers to save time and money leveraging Xome’s diversified offerings in a single workflow while reducing redundancies in the default lifecycle. Outside of the office, Heitzmann and her family dedicate their time to King and Queens International organization, an organization that focuses on child abandonment prevention to provide the spiritual, physical and psychological needs to impoverished and abandoned children both domestically and globally. For the past several years, Heitzmann has also worked with Cookies for Kids Cancer organization, supporting their annual Chefs for Kids event.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

CHRISTINA JENKINS

JEVONNA JOHNSON

Partner; Senio Vice President of Client Development

Director of Consumer Lending Bank Operations

Sandler Law Grou; Asurity

Discover Home Loans

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levating from a mortgage file clerk to law partner, Christina Jenkins has always dedicated her career to the mortgage industry. She quickly learned to understand and counsel clients, gaining mutual respect between client partners as well as her colleagues. Jenkins’ career began in 1996 as she progressed through law school. It was during this time that she gained a passion for servant leadership. Jenkins served more than 15 years in private practice as mortgage banking compliance counsel nationwide and overseer of Texas document preparation. Today, as partner at Sandler Law Group and senior vice president of client development with AsurityDocs, Jenkins advises law firm clients through a broad range of mortgage banking compliance issues. She is a lead advocate in coordinating internal resources for the preparation and delivery of best-in-class, client-centric product solutions and in transforming existing client relationships into deeper and more rewarding client partnerships. In January of 2020, Jenkins was peer nominated, and accepted, into induction as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation – an honor limited to 1% of lawyers licensed to practice in each jurisdiction. Jenkins also serves on the Council of the American Bar Association Real Property Trusts and has handled several pro bono matters through the Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program.

or the past 20 years, Jevonna Johnson has been a standout leader in the mortgage industry, earning a reputation as someone who is able to produce results by encouraging and championing the people who work for her. Johnson has served as a director of operations since July 2017, where she has driven transformation across all parts of the origination’s workflow. Over the past year, while she was managing the Phoenix offices’ consolidation of its two operational centers, Johnson has also helped lower the average cycle time by 17%, creating a smoother borrower experience. Known for her nimbleness at implementing fixes to address customer feedback, Johnson’s passion for borrower experience boosted Discover Home Loans’ customer satisfaction rating and has kept it at above 90%.

Johnson has distinguished herself as a leader with humility, having built a culture in which every employee from frontline agents to department managers feel empowered to partner with her personally on any idea or challenge. Johnson was a branch manager at Citigroup and group manager to EquiFirst Corporation prior to joining Discover.

Johnson was also a senior vice president, closing services support program manager at Bank of America, as well as senior vice president and director of mortgage operations at Heartland Financial.

TAWN KELLEY

AMY KEYSER

President

Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Global Mortgage

Taylor Morrison Home Funding

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Arch Mortgage Insurance

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s president of Taylor Morrison Home Funding, Tawn Kelley is an absolute powerhouse. In addition to leading Taylor Morrison’s financial services suite companies, Kelley is the chairman of the company’s joint venture business, Mortgage Funding Direct Ventures, that partners with Mattamy Homes and Neal Communities.

Kelley also serves as an executive leadership member, an enterprise risk management committee member and customer experience committee chairman for Taylor Morrison. She is an active member of the MBA, Leading Builders Executive Mortgage Council, RESPRO and is a new member of RESBOG. As a leader, Kelley puts the well-being of her employees and client base first while recognizing the social responsibility of providing homebuyers with their best interests first and foremost. Kelley is fiercely passionate about exceeding expectations, finding the willingness to shift (Kelley’s favorite word), and pushing the company forward with new technology and ideas to achieve excellence. That same forward-looking vision created ARO, Able Ready Own, a free-of-charge qualification improvement department for customers to better position families for home purchase. In the workplace Kelley has created a nurturing, inclusive and rewarding environment where employees are valued, ideas are encouraged and respected in order to strengthen involvement.

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s senior vice president and chief human resources officer of Arch Capital’s Global Mortgage Group, Amy Keyser’s transformation of the company’s culture and processes has been recognized nationally. Under her leadership, the company significantly improved employee retention, established a recruiting network to attract top talent and created programs to recognize and celebrate employee excellence. Keyser currently manages a 13-person team that supports a company with more than 1,000 people, including more than 600 based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Walnut Creek, California. She works closely with the executive team to advance business goals with HR policies and programs supporting a high level of employee engagement to drive results, minimize turnover and create opportunities for the company’s future leaders. Keyser and her team also collaborated with other leaders within the company to introduce a parental leave policy in 2019 for employees. The newly implemented plan provided up to 10 weeks of paid leave for each parent following a birth, foster placement or adoption. When all Arch employees shifted to working at home in March based on COVID-19 guidelines, Keyser’s team established support programs to promote work-life balance and ease the transition for those working at home for the first time.

AUGUST 2020

Senior Vice President of Product and Strategic Programs

Guaranteed Rate

Finicity

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KATIE KING

ELANA KNOLLER

Head of Vendor Strategic Management and Compliance

Chief Product Officer

FormFree

Better.com

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n a traditionally male-dominated mortgage field, Risha Kilaru is a force to be reckoned with. Kilaru began in the housing industry as an underwriter 13 years ago. Today, she is a senior vice president of mortgage lending for Guaranteed Rate and a multiple award-winning loan originator. In 2019, Kilaru funded more than $329 million in total loan volume, ranking as the fourth top producer at Guaranteed Rate.

Kilaru consistently uses her success in the industry to empower and positively influence her company. As branch manager for Guaranteed Rate’s location in Fremont, California, Kilaru develops and leads a team of mortgage professionals in order to serve her clients and business partners with the best possible outcomes. She understands that without the support of her team, she wouldn’t be where she is today, and takes their development very personally. She is actively involved with the Guaranteed Rate Origination of Women, an inclusive organization that provides Guaranteed Rate employees with mentorship and a safe place to learn, exchange ideas and generate increased empowerment and confidence. Besides her significant contributions to the mortgage industry, Kilaru works closely with Janyaa, an organization with the mission to improve the lives of under-privileged rural children in India through hands-on education.

atie King is responsible for overseeing all matters related to compliance, audits, enterprise risk and vendor management – which is no mean feat when one considers her work is related to thousands of clients and more than 100 integration partners.

Although she has only been with the company for approximately one year, she has already made a positive impact on its operations, including the forging of strategic partnerships with the government-sponsored enterprises. She also oversaw FormFree’s participation in pilot and system enhancements to Fannie Mae’s Desktop Underwriter Validation Service and the company’s upcoming participation in Freddie Mac’s Loan Product Advisor asset and income modeler pilot.

Furthermore, King’s leadership skills were crucial in establishing a partnership with LexisNexis Risk Solutions to help lenders pre-fill the Universal Residential Loan Application for applicants and make paystub collection and verification available through FormFree’s Passport. She was also instrumental in helping the company comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act as a consumer reporting agency.

When the COVID-19 pandemic paralyzed most of the economy, King spearheaded the company’s transition to teleworking, ensuring the firm’s lender customers received uninterrupted asset verification service in the midst of uncommonly high report order volume.

n her almost three years as senior vice president of product and strategic programs at Finicity, Lisa Kimball works with innovative partners and industry leaders to create next-generation customer experiences within the financial technology landscape. Kimball’s success stems from her curiosity in the next big thing – especially if it will improve the financial lives of customers. Within the past year, Kimball spearheaded the launch of Finicity’s Verification of Income and Employment solution, and partnered with customers in the development of the Ultra FICO and Experian Boost offerings. For close to 20 years now, Kimball has worked diligently in financial services – advancing the use of creative thought around better consumer-permissioned financial data. Her leadership values are deeply rooted in building relationships and creating a culture of inclusiveness and belonging. Because of her passion for seeing colleagues reach outside their comfort zone, Kimball is a highly sought-out mentor for those in her field. Outside of work, Kimball actively participates in the Know Your Neighbor program, which provides support to refugee families.

She has also been involved with the Women Tech Council for many years, and serves as a SheTech mentor, encouraging high school girls to pursue STEM degrees and successful careers.

t has been a very busy year for the idustry overall, and especially for Better.com Chief Product Officer Elana Knoller. At this time last year, in addition to serving as chief of staff, Knoller was leading the cross-functional partnership with Ally Financial. Today, Knoller leads five teams at Better.com, two of which she founded herself. In September, Knoller launched the company’s first cross-functional experimentation-based growth team composed of product, design, engineers, paid acquisition, pricing and marketing teams. In January, Knoller built another team, adding the strategy and special operations team with a goal of developing cross-functional business lines focused on experiences for real estate agents. Finally, in February, Knoller took over the product and design teams, where she doubled down on the core business strategy, adding automation and education to the customer experience. Knoller models her ethos and displayes her leadership by taking on roles and responsibilities to outer limits whenever there is a gap or a new need arises. Her method created a culture at Better.com where employees are encouraged to take initiative in their ideas specifically with what they feel would best benefit the company. As a mentor, Knoller is quick to be the first one to hold herself accountable and loves to share what she learned from her latest mistakes at meetings.

AUGUST 2020

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LISA KIMBALL

Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

RISHA KILARU

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

DEBBIE KNOTTS

KARA LAMPHERE

Senior Vice President of Direct to Consumer Lending

Chief Operating Officer

NewRez

Mid America Mortgage

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s the architect of Mid America Mortgage’s eMortgage strategy, Kara Lamphere has continued to push the envelope regarding what is possible for lenders in today’s origination environment.

In addition to crafting Mid America’s 2016 cross-channel transition to eClosings and eNotes, Lamphere was also the driving force behind its direct-to-consumer digital mortgage platform, which earned her recognition as one of the Mortgage Bankers Associations’ Tech All-Stars in 2019. With the digital mortgage process Kara implemented at Mid America, the organization has been able to reduce its cost-per-loan by 25% since going live in 2017 and currently accounts for a significant portion of both Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s total eNote purchases.

In 2019, Mid America executed 90.23% of its total retail production and 41.28% of its combined wholesale and Section 184 production using eClose. Not content with these efforts, Lamphere has continued to move the needle in terms of Mid America’s utilization of available digital mortgage solutions, including remote online notarization.

The digital ecosystem Lamphere built at Mid America has not only enabled it to sustain relatively normal operations, but the company was also able to maintain its 600 to 680 FICO requirements for FHA, VA and USDA loans during the COVID-19 disruptions.

LAURA LARAIA

ANNETTE LOWDER

Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel

Chief Operating Officer

First Guaranty Mortgage Corp.

Intercap Lending

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ebbie Knotts joined NewRez in September 2019 as part of the Ditech acquisition. She had been at Ditech for over 14 years, and she has maintained tremendous loyalty and retention among employees while also facilitating enormous growth for NewRez. Knotts successfully transitioned over 80 licensed loan officers who contributed more than 25% of the company’s total funded production. Her staff increased funded volume by 74% in six months. Through targeted changes in sales management, Knotts led the improvement of locked productivity by qualified to produce loan officers by 100%. Knotts championed a 10-week program known as The Lab that trains individuals looking to break into the mortgage industry into productive licensed loan officers. Thus far, 39 licensed loan officers have been hired this year, coming from varying industries. Additionally, 90% of The Lab participants passed their licensing test, a pass rate 30% higher than the industry average. During her time at Ditech, the organization went through four CEOs, causing several major phases of transitions and adjustments for all senior leadership. During these times, Knotts demonstrated an exemplary attitude, presenting to her team as transparent, communicative, and thus managed to maintain employees and even increase productivity.

aura LaRaia is a force to be reckoned with as chief legal officer and general counsel at First Guaranty Mortgage Corp. Most recently, LaRaia was instrumental in providing counsel to the firm as it sought to navigate through the COVID-19 crisis. She worked tirelessly to delve into the components of the CARES Act that affect mortgage lending, investigated the implications of the legislation and provided legal and risk guidance to FGMC's leadership teams.

She spent her time during the first months of COVID-19 advocating with the Mortgage Bankers Association and investors through the Mortgage Action Alliance. LaRaia also assisted her teams in rolling out the plan for implementation of the revised Uniform Residential Loan Application and oversaw the completion of multiple successful state and agency audits for her firm. With over 20 years in the industry, LaRaia serves as a member of several MBA committees, including the MBA state legislative and regulatory committee, MBA litigation task force, and as both an advocate for and a member of the MBA’s Mortgage Action Alliance. LaRaia is also involved in mPower, NEXT, and volunteered with Interfaith Housing Coalition and Jesuit Volunteer Corps, as well as Habitat for Humanity. She lives by the philosophy that she would never ask any of her team members to do something she wouldn’t do herself.

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nnette Lowder built Intercap Lending's operations team from the ground up. She started nearly from scratch in 2017, building up to now more than $1.8 billion in production in 2019, and she is already approaching $1 billion for 2020. As chief operating officer at Intercap Lending, Lowder built the operations team and systems to support one of Utah’s leading mortgage lenders. But the operations team wasn't her first team to build at the company. Since mid-2016, Lowder has also built the underwriting, compliance, appraisal, processing, closing and disclosure teams from the ground up. Her expertise and guidance enabled Intercap to scale using technology, allowing all operations teams to work more files in less time.

Lowder has been a driving force behind Intercap’s quick rise from less than $50 million in production per year to nearly $2 billion in annual production. In addition to this, Lowder is a mentor to those around her. Her ability to connect with her team and her willingness to jump into any problem make her unique. Lowder is a member of the Board of Directors for Utah Housing Corp., an organization dedicated to supporting affordable homeownership options in the state of Utah.

As a member of the board, Lowder has been an important part of driving housing affordability during these extremely difficult times in the housing industry.

AUGUST 2020

CAMELIA MARTIN

President and CEO

Managing Director of Digital Mortgage Advisory

Dytrix

Falcon Capital Advisors

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JANE MASON

SHANNON MCGAHN

President and CEO

Senior Vice President of Government Affairs

Clarifire dba. eMASON

National Association of Realtors

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n 2008, Jane Mason conceived and led the development of CLARIFIRE, an application that uses intelligent business rules to automatically distribute work, critical information and documentation to its users. As president and CEO, Mason took her company and its technology to a whole new level in 2019. Mason and her team began examining industry operational impediments to better understand where and how technology falls short in addressing industry issues. They then used this knowledge to improve the CLARIFIRE solution by developing advanced automation that standardizes and drives efficiencies. Her mantra – to do business with kindness, always deliver on what you say, work hard and make a difference – not only fueled the success of her company, but inspired countless colleagues over the years, including many women entrepreneurs. Mason has dedicated many hours to help lead and mentor women in the industry through her ongoing participation in the WBENC, WHF and the C200 – a global organization of women in business leadership.

She also serves on advisory boards for local universities where she mentors new entrepreneurs, and offers regular guidance on current industry issues – explaining concrete solutions to today’s obstacles both in industry trade articles and as a part of her bi-monthly Clarifire Conversations series.

amelia Martin led the adoption, implementation and use of digital mortgages over the past 15 years. Martin has led industry-wide digital mortgage initiatives that have directly supported eNote acceptance programs for key participants such as Ginnie Mae and the Federal Home Loan Banks. A former MERSCORP executive, Martin launched the Digital Mortgage Advisory Group for Falcon Capital Advisors and has played a pivotal role in the implementation and adaptation of digital mortgages at MERSCORP. For several trade associations, Martin helped develop new digital mortgage technology standards and certification processes. Martin is an active participant in MISMO, serving on the strategic planning committee, as well as a co-chair on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Document Custody eNote Working Group. In Martin’s previous role as MERSCORP’s director of risk management, she helped establish an enterprise-wide risk management program, oversaw the issuance of member rule violations and developed new enforcement procedures.

Thanks to Camelia’s efforts, countless industry participants have been able to better understand and integrate eNotes into their policies and procedures, as well as create and implement their own digital mortgage strategies.

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s the first woman to hold the top federal advocate spot in NAR’s 110-year history, Shannon McGahn doesn’t pull punches.

During the past year, the senior vice president of government affairs redesigned the NAR’s federal advocacy team with the goal of strengthening key and strategic relationships in the House and Senate for a new political era. McGahn’s reboot of NAR’s Washington operation began with a renewed focus on the organization’s members. She dispatched a new group of traveling political representatives across America to become advocacy’s eyes and ears and serve as a critical conduit for information between communities and decision-makers in Washington. McGahn’s team helped secure victories on top federal priority items like a full fiscal year extension of the National Flood Insurance Program, a seven-year reauthorization of TRIA, and various tax extenders critical to American real estate. McGahn’s ambitious plan also brought a renewed presence of NAR at conventions and political events for both Democrats and Republicans. She quickly became known for her open-door policy at NAR and spirit of collaboration across the organization. Managing federal legislative and political affairs for America’s largest trade association also takes McGahn around the country as a highly sought out and respected voice on housing and the economy.

AUGUST 2020

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egina Lowrie already earned a place in the mortgage profession’s history books in 2005 as the first woman to serve as chair of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and the 40-year industry veteran is now looking to put cybercriminals out of commission with her technology company Dytrix. Lowrie launched Dytrix in 2018 with the goal of protecting financial transactions from cyber fraud. The Dytrix Platform is designed to secure wire/ACH transfer validation and closing agent management while mitigating the risks of wire and identity fraud and disclosure of non-public information.

Lowrie’s technology mitigates the risk of privacy violations that are excluded from a lender’s CPL and typical E&O insurance policies, and it also provides a credit monitoring feature for client customers that complies with consumer privacy regulations while protecting borrowers from closing agent breaches. Lowrie has become a much sought-after expert on cybersecurity thanks to a series of bylined articles in industry trade journals and guest appearances on mortgage podcasts that focused on the growing risks created by wire transfer fraud and business email compromise attacks. In addition to her work with Dytrix, Lowrie is also the founder and CEO of RML Advisors, a consultancy for the financial services industry.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

REGINA LOWRIE

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

KERRY MELCHER

TERRI MERLINO

Head of Sales and Brokerage

Senior Vice President and Chief Credit Officer, SingleFamily Business

Opendoor

Freddie Mac

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JONNÉ MIKITA

ANDREA MITCHELL

National Operations Development Manager

Managing Partner

Sierra Pacific Mortgage

Mitchell Sandler

s a third-generation Realtor, Kerry Melcher was born into the real estate industry. Now, with more than 33 years of experience in real estate, Melcher plays an integral role as head of sales and brokerage at Opendoor. She joined Opendoor as its director of business development, and served as general manager of Phoenix. She was also instrumental in growing Opendoor’s team in the region, doubling office space in Scottsdale and nearly doubling staff – all while helping agents and brokers learn how Opendoor could help them better serve their customers. Prior to Opendoor, Melcher owned a boutique real estate practice that specialized in Center City Phoenix real estate. She took on several leadership roles outside her practice to help strengthen her local real estate community. Melcher was appointed the director and president of the Phoenix Association of Realtors, before joining Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service as a director of MLS strategy. At ARMLS she ran product, marketing, licensing, support and strategy. She also served as chairman of the board. Mulcher played an integral role in helping develop the Opendoor Agent Partner Program – a program that provides agents high-quality referrals, and helps them provide more certainty for their clients.

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20-year veteran of the mortgage profession, Jonné Mikita joined Sierra Pacific in 2012 as a national operations support specialist, climbing to her current role in 2019. Mikita works closely with the company’s IT specialists on multiple projects related to all aspects of the origination process. Teaming with the company’s IT department, she has addressed issues including proprietary internal LOS concerns, AUS problems and ULDD requirements and provided assistance on UAT testing of new program rollouts. Mikita also oversaw the release and training for Sierra Pacific’s retail point of sale proprietary platform throughout the enterprise, the release and training for the company’s third-party origination LOS proprietary platform throughout the enterprise and served as automated validation lender liaison to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for process improvement of DIC and AIM. The company honored her with its Sierra Pacific Heart Award, which is presented under the banner “Making a Difference Through Outstanding Service” Mikita is not one to luxuriate on her laurels – she listens to what others have to say and discerns the between-the-lines issues to ensure the workflow remains in smooth motion. She also takes time to mentor newcomers to the Sierra Pacific team to guarantee they become valued members within the corporate culture.

erri Merlino plays a key role at Freddie Mac, serving as chief credit officer of the company’s single-family business. Merlino substantially impacts Freddie Mac’s mortgage credit risk management efforts and the experiences of the company’s clients. In addition, Merlino also assumed additional risk management responsibilities. Late in 2019, Merlino was promoted from vice president to senior vice president, making her one of the most influential leaders at Freddie Mac. In her roles at Freddie Mac, Merlino was instrumental in leading the drive for industry adoption of Freddie Mac’s risk assessment tools Loan Quality Advisor and Loan Product Advisor, to ensure loans delivered were acceptable to Freddie Mac’s risk profile. Beyond that, Merlino also led teams that innovated products and tools, including Loan Product Advisor AIM, which automates the assessment of borrower assets and income for lenders; and Automated Collateral Evaluation, which leverages Freddie Mac proprietary models, along with historical data and public records to let Freddie Mac clients originate eligible loans without a traditional appraisal. Merlino also acted quickly and decisively in response to the COVID-19 pandemic crisis to provide flexibility, guidance and clarity in underwriting guideline policy and process.

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ith more than 20 years of legal experience, Andrea Mitchell created a business model and leadership approach that is effective, offering excellence, diversity and inclusion. As a managing partner of Mitchell Sandler, Mitchell has demonstrated her leadership and influence through several avenues including having served as a strategic and legal advisor to numerous start-up fintech companies, advising multiple banks on developing and executing consumer redress plans and advising multiple institutions on developing new products and services to assist distressed borrowers impacted by COVID-19. Before she began her partnership with Mitchell Sandler, Mitchell was a partner at Buckley, where she championed women leadership by becoming the first woman member of the firm’s executive committee. On top of her professional accomplishments, Mitchell has worked to create a more inclusive environment for women in the legal and financial industries, including creating a firm with her colleagues that is majority-women owned and managed, boasting an equal number of female and male attorneys. Mitchell is always willing to help further the careers of talented employees of the firm’s clients and frequently advocates for and gives recognition to them that they may not otherwise receive when speaking with executives and senior managers.

AUGUST 2020

Cofounder and Executive Vice President

realtor.com

BeSmartee

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achel Morley brings more than two decades of experience helping companies execute on technologies that consider the customer experience and deliver business results to the residential real estate industry. Since joining realtor.com in August 2019 as senior vice president of product, she has played an integral role in developing digital marketplace experiences and driving audience and revenue growth within a highly competitive market. As more consumers expect transactions to be easy, intuitive, personalized and on-demand, Morley and her team continuously evolve the realtor.com search experience to deliver on those expectations. As a result, Morley and her team helped build and launch the new RDCx platform earlier this year, which created a more streamlined consumer experience on the site. Since its launch in February, RDCx has helped improve consumer satisfaction rates on the site, increased lead volume to customers and helped grow media revenue. In addition to this, her team created a noise map overlay on realtor.com that provides reliable sound data down to the property level, where available. Originally cofounding the agency 11 years ago, Morley is also on the board of Cogent, a product development agency that offers a blend of strategy, design and development to create and invest in digital products.

eronica Nguyen served as a founder of appraisal services and technologies provider InHouse from 2002 to 2014. Afterward, she helped launch BeSmartee in 2012. Nguyen’s experience, analytical prowess and creativity have driven BeSmartee’s growth and expansion. Within two years, Nguyen transformed InHouse from its inaugural start-up phase to bringing on more than 150 full-time employees. Nguyen held various management roles at InHouse, from human resources, finances and compliance to software design and operations. She also provided board oversight and governance and represented shareholders’ interests. WIth an entrepreneurial spirit and expertise in taking start-up companies from launch to highgrowth, Nguyen is passionate about helping build up the individuals around her, leveraging the skill sets of her employees to help them grow as well as promote innovation and productivity in BeSmartee's dynamic workplace. Nguyen’s commitment to excellence and innovation is clear in her ability to scale and deliver profitable growth at BeSmartee. In addition to her leadership roles at InHouse and BeSmartee, Nguyen has also held a board position with OC Human Relations, an award-winning nonprofit organization servicing Orange County’s diverse community.

KIMBERLY NICHOLS

QINGQING OUYANG

Managing Director

Executive Vice President of Engineering

PennyMac

OJO Labs

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imberly Nichols has been a key player at PennyMac for the last nine years. Currently, Nichols is leading the PennyMac team that is driving growth in the wholesale channel, which includes both broker and non-delegated correspondent production.

Under Nichols' leadership, PennyMac has become a top 15 wholesale lender. Nichols spent the early days of her career in secondary marketing and capital markets, which she followed up with 10 years at PMI Mortgage Insurance and later became an industry leader in the correspondent space including positions at GMAC RFC, Bank of America and now PennyMac. Beyond leading her team and the business channels she supports, Nichols is viewed as a leader across the organization as co-founder and committee member of wEMRG - an company-wide program with the purpose of empowering, mentoring and promoting the success of high potential females within PennyMac. Over the course of the last year, wEMRG has expanded the growth and influence of this organization within PennyMac with 235 women participating. wEMRG provides an informal professional forum for women in PennyMac by offering access and interactions with senior leaders. The forum also assists participants in growing their careers through sharing experiences, building knowledge, skills and relationships.

ingqing Ouyang is an engineering powerhouse for OJO Labs.

Ouyang became a champion for the company’s commitment to consumers as she drove the rapid expansion of market launch for the OJO product. She also led the development of OJO’s machine learning efforts, transforming its product from a conversation engine to a powerful AI advisor in the real estate industry. While supporting more consumers in the system, she drove the significant improvement of MLS process speed, from updating home buyers every 12 hours to alerting any changes in minutes. Her leadership pushed the team to constantly explore how technology can be applied to support consumers and deliver meaningful, personalized experiences throughout the home-buying journey. Ouyang has fostered a culture where every idea is challenged and creativity and exploration are encouraged. Outside of work, Ouyang dedicates her time supporting STEM initiatives, spending many of her weekends volunteering at Code2College, a local nonprofit working to promote STEM education for underprivileged youth. Throughout her career, Ouyang has energized those around her to explore the boundaries of what’s possible through technology – constantly looking for innovative ways to apply technology to support businesses and consumers as they navigate the home-buying process nationwide.

AUGUST 2020

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VERONICA NGUYEN

Senior Vice President of Product

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

RACHEL MORLEY

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

LISA PATTERSON

FIONA PETRIE

Chief Originations Officer

Executive Vice President, Managing Director of U.S. Operations

Home Point Financial

RE/MAX INTEGRA

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iona Petrie joined RE/MAX INTEGRA in 2006, and has since worked her way up the corporate ladder – spearheading franchise business growth and overseeing overwhelming growth including 150 RE/MAX office expansions and the opening of more than 90 new offices. As executive vice president and managing director of U.S. operations, Petrie oversees all operations in the Midwest and New England regions, which include 500 franchises and 7,000 agents. In 2018, Petrie launched Ladies in Leadership, a group of female brokers who meet regularly to build their management skills and empower female leadership in the industry. In 2019, Petrie expanded this initiative with the launch of RE/MAX Empowering Ambitious Ladies, R.E.A.L. Petrie is also the host of the “Now We’re Talking Real Estate” podcast, a series of interviews that take a deep dive into the DNA of top producers in the RE/MAX network. Given her platform, Petrie is constantly seeking opportunities to transform the perception of women in real estate. She intends to show that women in the industry can be strong leaders. As a leader herself, Petrie values personal and professional growth, and encourages others to discover their own talents in and out of the industry with her steadfast work ethic and enthusiasm.

ROCIO PORTELLA

COURTNEY POULOS

Mortgage Loan Officer

Owner/Broker

Mint Mortgage

ACME Real Estate

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isa Patterson was one of the founding team members of Home Point Financial. Since joining the company in 2015, Patterson has built the third-party originator business into its own mortgage origination powerhouse, producing record loan volumes month after month. As a result of her efforts, the third party origination channel originated more than $12 billion in 2019, solidifying Home Point’s position as the third-largest wholesale mortgage lender for residential loans in the U.S., according to data compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. Over the last 12 months, Patterson and her team have achieved record TPO channel growth through a combination of top sales staff, innovative solutions and a superior operations team.

Patterson also plays a key leadership role in Home Point’s Customer for Life initiative, designed to create stability and long-term value for mortgage brokers. Patterson has had an extensive career in the mortgage industry, and came to Home Point Financial with more than 25 years of experience, including executive positions at CitiMortgage (formerly ABN AMRO) and Cole Taylor Mortgage, where she was the senior vice president of operations. In previous positions, Patterson built and managed operations teams of up to 350 people and led national ranked wholesale sales teams.

ocia Portela staked her claim as a true trendsetter and team player. Her secret sauce? Authenticity, hard work, speed and always striving to bring value. Portella performs at a high level statistically, and was recognized as a top 1% MLO for two years in a row. Portella has always made it her mission to empower and develop those with whom she works. In 2017, Rocio funded more than $38 million in mortgage loans and held a spot for three years in the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals' top 250. She is No. 35 in Florida as well as the No. 1 female Latina in the state. For two years, she sat on the list of top 100 minority LOs for the NAMMBA and is a three-time President's Cabinet Winner. Driven by the notion that leaders are not great because of power, but because of their ability to empower, Portella founded and drives the Mortgage Chicks brand, where she leads and trains a team of women loan originators to be better producers, and encourages them to lean on each other for support. She also takes great joy in having developed and mentored multiple loan partners who had previously worked under her to become loan originators and business professionals themselves.

Before joining Mint Mortgage, Rocio's experience includes serving at companies such as AnnieMac Home Mortgage, Paramount Residential Mortgage Group and Everest Financial Group.

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rom inspiring women to take charge of their future through real estate investment to passing on her knowledge through mentorship, Courtney Poulos is firmly ingrained in the real estate community. Poulos began selling real estate in 2005, and since then, has shared her experience, knowledge and passion for it every day. Now, as ACME Real Estate owner and broker, Poulos juggles her own clients, runs a growing brokerage and tends to the needs of the 32-agent ACME team. Poulos' passion for her real estate community, and motivation to work toward positive change, most recently led her to become a member of the Board of Directors of the Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors. Her stated mission to help women achieve financial independence through real estate investment led her to even write and publish her own book, featuring real-life stories of women who started from scratch and built their wealth through creative real estate buying and selling. Outside of her book, Poulos provides mentorship by giving guidance to her team on how to move forward with the changing market – always with an approach that is sensitive to the current climate. For example, her leadership has truly shone throughout the COVID-19 pandemic as she consistently keeps her team and clients completely in-sync through the unexpected twists and turns.

AUGUST 2020

ANNA RATANAWAN

Senior Director, Reimagine Servicing Integrations and Adoption, Single-Family

Vice President of People Operations

SimpleNexus

Freddie Mac

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CHRISSI RHEA

MARILYN RICHARDSON

CEO, Founder and President

President and CEO

Mortgage Investors Group

Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp.

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hrissi Rhea cofounded Mortgage Investors Group 30 years ago and has nearly 40 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

Rhea founded the company with the vision of investing in loan officers, borrowers and the communities they serve. In the past year, Rhea spearheaded expanding the company’s presence across the Southeast, bringing Mortgage Investors Group’s brand of mortgage lending services with physical locations in two new states, as well as opening two new branches in its home state of Tennessee. Rhea also launched a brand refresh that represents Mortgage Investors Group as a growing residential mortgage lender in the Southeast that is building on a proven track record as a long-time industry leader and helped grow the company’s digital and social media presence. In addition to investing in technological improvements and marketing campaigns, Mortgage Investors Group has established a Digital Consumer Interface team that is paving the way for customer interactions to be more immediate and personal. Rhea is on the board for the Mortgage Bankers Association's Residential Board of Governors as well as the board of directors for the Tennessee Housing Development Agency.

Rhea also served as a mentor to Mortgage Investors Group’s entirely female-operated downtown Knoxville, Tennessee branch, including its branch manager.

nder Anna Ratanawan's direction, SimpleNexus split its product and engineering divisions and reinvented them as project-specific teams consisting of a product manager, designer, senior engineer and a number of junior engineers and interns. This created two remarkable results: a better enabling of development efforts in accordance with MISMO’s universal industry standards and the encouragement of team members to cultivate varied skill sets.

Ratanawan’s vision for the company also brought about a quarterly continuing education for developers, which the company credits with giving product and engineering teams better insight into designing technology solutions. Ratanawan also developed HIVE – the acronym stands for hungry, innovative, vibrant and empathetic – a system for managers to better judge employee applications, and she also implemented the employee recognition software Motivosity to allow the staff to recognize their peers who exhibit HIVE values. Outside of the office, Ratanawan partnered with local universities on a multi-semester internship program for software development students – and, to date, SimpleNexus hired more than half of its interns. Ratanawan’s efforts have been noticed by the wider world: the company’s executive leadership earned an “A” rating from Comparably.

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arilyn Richardson started with Mason-McDuffie Mortgage Corp. as the receptionist. Intrigued by the mortgage business, she accepted each opportunity to change positions within the company, among sales, processing, collections and management, and as she did Richardson worked her way to the top. In 1979, Richardson's hard work paid off and she became the first female partner; the company had to change the location of the partners’ meeting because, at the time, the spot in San Francisco didn’t allow females. She went on to become one of the first female CEOs of a U.S. Top 100 mortgage company and now oversees the operations of the company, including finance, capital markets, administration and operations, from underwriting to post closing. Building up the next era of leadership is critical to her. “Something that’s very important to me is to leave the opportunities here for the newer generations because I was lucky enough to have those opportunities with Mason-McDuffie,” Richardson said in a recent company video. In 2020 Richardson led the company, in business for more than 130 years, to a record year in sales, recruiting and retention. Great leaders lift their team up to be better than they are, a spirit that Richardson embodies. “You’re not a success by yourself; it’s the ability to build a team and move forward as a group,” she said.

AUGUST 2020

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ecelia Raine was instrumental in leading Freddie Mac’s efforts to launch “Reimagine Servicing,” one of the company’s largest, most effective and successful initiatives of the past 12 months and one of the largest investments in servicing in 10 years. This initiative is helping minimize credit losses, reduce costs and support sustainable homeownership and stability in the housing market.

Raine led her team to create and launch this multiyear initiative, which is transforming the experiences of thousands of Freddie Mac servicer clients and having a positive impact on homeowners. Under this Reimagine Servicing umbrella, Freddie Mac upgraded numerous servicing technology tools, processes and policies, all with the goal of minimizing credit losses, reducing costs and transforming the client experience. The program has improved efficiency, eliminated manual processes, boosted data quality and integration points, and developed and deployed tools that meet clients’ needs. One piece of the initiative was a new technology product called Servicing Gateway.

The solution provides workflow and communication efficiency and has modernized access for 1,200 servicers to Freddie Mac applications.

The technology saved up to 12 clicks per user for more than 5,000 users.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

CECELIA RAINE

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LYNN RIEDEL

SARA RODRIGUEZ

Executive Vice President, President, Chief Operating Officer of NTC Washington

Counsel and CEO

Titan Title

WFG National Title Insurance

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NICOLE RUETH

LEORA RUZIN

Producing Branch Manager

Director of Real Estate Lending

The Rueth Team at Fairway Independent Mortgage

Valley First Credit Union

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ynn Riedel brings more than 43 years of title and escrow experience to WFG National Title Insurance, most recently as the president and chief operating officer of the Washington division.

She also leads the NTS division, WFG’s centralized title processing entity, and was a prominent figure in helping WFG earn a net promoter score of 77. Riedel was a founding architect of WFG’s growth strategy, actively assisting the company to expand its national footprint, market share and the build-out of the entire WFG National Title Services platform. As a proactive leader, Riedel believes in open-door management, and trusts her people to use their own good judgment by creating environments where it is acceptable to make mistakes. Outside of the office, Riedel gives back to her community by helping to raise funds for the Boy Scouts of America and United Way. Riedel has also been an active board member on the Women’s Council of Realtors, Puget Sound Mortgage Bankers Association, Escrow Association of Washington, Chamber of Commerce and the Washington Land Title Association. As a licensed instructor for the state of Washington, she taught practices in real estate classes at the local community college and continuing education courses for licensed Realtors and loan processing officers.

s producing branch manager at the Rueth Team, Nicole Rueth helped guide her branch to the No.1 spot in the nation for Fairway Independent Mortgage. As a community leader, Rueth prioritizes educating and supporting Denver-area homebuyers, investors and real estate agents by offering real estate financial advice and expertise free of charge to the public to encourage financial education. Her teachings take the form of weekly social media posts and videos, as well as eight in-person classes. Her courses focus on teaching homeowners how to build wealth using real estate, educating real estate agents on industry economics and coaching agents on becoming long-term advisors for clients. Rueth is also the host of her own podcast “The Double Comma Club,” where she covers various topics surrounding real estate including real estate agent education, local market trends, investment strategies, homeownership and much more. Rueth is a proactive philanthropist for organizations who are dedicated to addressing children’s education and housing needs such as Colorado I Have a Dream Foundation as a 5th-year title Sponsor, Colorado Miss Amazing, The Anchor Center and the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless. She was also the No.1 producing branch manager at Fairway in 2016, 2017 and 2019, and was Colorado’s top originator for the past two years.

n December 2018, Sara Rodriguez founded Titan Title, and now runs the Virginia-based firm with passion and tenacity as its CEO. Over the last year, Titan Title opened a new office and expanded its footprint across the D.C.-Virginia area thanks to Rodriguez’s inspiring efforts and leadership. Rodriguez is a strong advocate for taking business digital, and not only helped Titan Title operate remotely, but she assisted her community through educational webinars and online events on the subject. As a leader, Rodriguez is convinced that the best way for the industry to grow is by putting the right tools and practices into the right hands. Outside of Titan Title, Rodriguez is the 2020 president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals. Her journey with NAHREP is a long one, having been the vice president of the NAHREP-Metro D.C. and eventually president, and served on the board of directors for the national NAHREP for three and a half years. And beyond these efforts, Rodriguez has demonstrated her leadership in other areas of the housing industry as she is also an advocate of remote online notarizations. Rodriguez even once went so far as to speak with Senator Diane Feinstein and Secretary of State Alex Padilla about how to properly move toward RON integration.

eora Ruzin has maintained a deep and intense passion for the advocacy of American homeownership for more than 13 years, and her efforts go far beyond even her own workplace. Through her volunteer efforts, involvement in grassroots industry organizations and her writing, including feature stories for HousingWire Magazine, she is helping change the face of real estate lending for the next generation. Now, as director of real estate lending at Valley First Credit Union, Ruzin shares her knowledge of non-QM lending and lending to other niche borrower types. In 2019, that thirst for knowledge culminated in her obtaining the Certified Mortgage Banker designation with the Mortgage Bankers Association. Ruzin is wellknown in the industry as a woman who stands up for others and constantly fights for the rights of those who often can’t fight for themselves, whether it is for the fair treatment of military veterans, advocacy of minorities in the workplace or through the sharing of her personal story. As she works to expand her reach in the industry, she mindfully uses her voice to advocate for others to find their path and has often shared her time to aid others in achieving their goals. To accomplish this, Ruzin sits on several industry committees that are focused on advocacy and equal housing rights and is determined to “give back” as often as she possibly can.

AUGUST 2020

Principal

Quicken Loans

Toorak Capital Partners

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rina Scott spearheads the development and implementation of Quicken Loans' diversity and inclusion strategy, ensuring that diversity and inclusion are celebrated within the organization. She is the first chief diversity officer in a dedicated diversity and inclusion role, aligning strategic leadership efforts with overall strategy around key initiatives at Quicken Loans and the Rock Family of Companies.

These initiatives include diverse recruits and team members, engaging, retaining and developing all team members, and community impact, along with what the company is doing in the marketplace.

Under her leadership, Quicken Loans has harnessed input from teams and aligned it with the company’s strategy in order to create a diverse environment that encourages team members to thrive and excel.

Scott developed a diversity and inclusion strategy for 33,000 team members, spanning eight business sectors for nearly 100 companies in four U.S. cities. She’s also been making a difference for big companies – and inspiring growth, collaboration and an inclusive mindset in her teams – since well before she joined Quicken Loans, doing so in roles that spanned the globe. Scott also serves on the board for the Mortgage Bankers Association Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Inforum and Oakland University Alumni Association.

leksandra Simanovsky is responsible for spearheading market-wide understanding and acceptance of the residential bridge market. Before joining Toorak in 2019, Simanovsky spent four years as a vice president in Deutsche Bank’s Commercial Real Estate Group, where she led the new issuance of over $40 billion in commercial real estate backed securitization deals. Simanovsky also served as an associate director in the CMBS group at Kroll Bond Ratings Agency, where her responsibilities included overseeing the end-to-end execution of ratings on the private-label conduit, standalone single borrower and agency CMBS deals. Now, Simanovsky regularly represents Toorak at monthly and quarterly KKR board meetings.

Simanovsky’s dedication to credit analysis, research, opinions and methodologies have also been presented and featured in several publications. In May of 2019, Simanovsky was the first female executive hired at Toorak Capital Partners, and is now the highest-ranked female within the company. At Toorak, Simanovsky actively champions her female co-workers, most notably when she founded the group, “The Women of Toorak.” She also serves as a mentor to aspiring female leaders within the firm and regularly works with her colleagues to guide them on the career path they desire.

MICHELE SIMS

ANJU SOGI

Chief Financial Officer

Senior Business Architect

Floify

Tavant

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n addition to her role as chief financial officer, Michele Sims also helped found Floify in 2013. In her role as the head of finance and manager of business operations and growth, which also includes hiring staff and ensuring the company continues to attract top talent, Sims has played a key role in transforming the company into an advanced digital point-of-sale solution for the housing industry. Sims helped spearhead the rapid development of Floify’s digital point-ofsale solution. In the last 12 months, Sims played an important role in the evolution of Floify, including increasing the number of the company’s strategic partnerships and facilitating the release of several new features. Those features include the company’s recently updated 1003 mortgage application, which features a simple questionnaire that is easier for borrowers; major updates to Floify’s enterprise-grade Disclosure Desk, which allows lenders to streamline the process of completing borrower disclosures; hybrid eClosing functionally, which allows lenders to enable the electronic signing of non-notarized portions of a borrower’s closing package; and new integrations with dozens of credit vendors. With these improvements, Floify has seen an explosion in the adoption of its mortgage point-of-sale platform, with the company’s user base skyrocketing to more than 1 million users worldwide.

n her 15 years with Tavant, Anju Sogi has led and executed multiple game-changing projects that have enabled customers to establish industry leadership positions and are used by hundreds of thousands of Americans. In her role as senior business architect, Sogi plays an instrumental role in overseeing the development of Tavant's VELOX suite of products, while enlightening Tavant's FinX Retail Loan Officer experience. She is a five-time Tavant Excellence Award winner for excellence and customer focus and carries strong domain experience in residential mortgage, capital markets, and insurance. In addition to providing leadership and oversight across the VELOX suite, Sogi has been responsible for conceptualizing, defining and building several of the most prominent of Tavant's VELOX suite of products, including the FinX Retail LO, the one-stop-shop for loan officers as part of the FinXperience platform. Prior to her career with Tavant, Sogi pursued her bachelor’s of engineering in computer science, and her master’s in business systems. Today, she is heading Tavant's Fintech BA Center of Excellence, where she is not only mentoring and guiding the team with business solutions, but further identifying growth and learning paths. In addition, Sogi's strong governance skills have made her a key member of Tavant’s Women in Leadership group.

AUGUST 2020

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ALEKSANDRA SIMANOVSKY

Chief Diversity Officer

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

TRINA SCOTT

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LEANNE SPIES

CRYSTAL SUMNER

Senior Vice President of Multifamily Asset Management and Operations

Head of Legal

Blend

Freddie Mac

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KATIE SWEENEY

PINKY TELREJA

Executive Vice President of Strategy

Associate Vice President of Service Delivery

Association of Independent Mortgage Experts

Sutherland

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eanne Spies has played a vital role in leading the response at Freddie Mac to one of the most changing economic environments the industry has seen in a decade. As the senior vice president of multifamily asset management and operations, Spies is the architect of the relief plan for multifamily mortgage borrowers facing hardship due to COVID-19. She was also a key developer of the customer experience platform that made Freddie Mac Multifamily the nation’s leader in multifamily housing finance. The strong foundation she built has helped Freddie Mac persevere through the pandemic, as she directed several teams who are responsible for the systems and processes that servicers and investors depend on. Over the course of the last year, she has funded a record-breaking $77.9 billion in originations, servicing a $340 billion portfolio of 27,000 loans and achieved a near-zero delinquency rate. She also helped Freddie Mac Multifamily obtain the highest possible ratings a monoline commercial mortgage servicer can receive from Fitch Ratings, Morningstar Credit Ratings and Standard & Poor’s Rating Service. Spies oversees several teams and hundreds of employees encompassing all aspects of the Multifamily division’s servicing, asset management, governance and management of data and technology.

atie Sweeney’s ability to create strategic partnerships grew the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts sponsorship contributions by over 100% within the first 90 days of joining the team at the beginning of 2020. Sweeney shaped the organization’s 2020 strategy and oversaw the launch of multiple member-facing initiatives. Under her leadership, AIME has taken a data-driven approach to all facets of operations, developing and utilizing custom data models to assist with future initiatives and provide increased value to members and partners. Sweeney’s industry knowledge helped guide AIME’s member education efforts, recently through live videos and digital communication, to better assist independent mortgage brokers to improve their businesses. Sweeney formed a first-of-its-kind industry-specific vendor partner network, focused on providing access to services needed when starting a brokerage. In only a four-year time span within the mortgage industry, Sweeney has successfully brought to market an innovative, all-in-one platform and custom lender portal for the wholesale mortgage channel, managed new customer acquisition and portfolio retention for a top 10 government lender and formalized partnerships with over 50 leading lending institutions and service providers.

rystal Sumner played an instrumental role in growing Blend’s customer base to more than 225 lenders while brokering contracts with Wells Fargo and U.S. Bank. Sumner joined Blend in 2016 and immediately began working tirelessly to bring Blend’s one-tap pre-approval technology to market, enabling lenders to verify a consumer’s assets, income and employment with source data and reducing paperwork to provide a modern application experience for consumers. In her daily role at Blend, Sumner exemplifies how to implement and advance consumer banking technology, ensuring the company builds innovative products that simultaneously push the consumer lending industry forward while adhering to strict security and compliance standards. Her streamlined risk management program and contract service processes helped Blend’s customer base grow over the last year by 93%. In addition to her day-to-day work, Sumner is also the executive sponsor of Women at Blend, overseeing the professional development of Blend’s female workforce and building a supportive network within the company. Outside of Blend, Sumner is an active member of both the Women's Journal Counsel Network and Tech General Counsel group and a volunteer for the ACLU and OneJustice Immigration Pro Bono Response Network.

inky Telreja grew into a passionate global business leader over the course of her 14-year tenure with the company. Since Telreja travels extensively on business she focuses her networks consistently on solutioning that helps reduce costs, improve quality and enhance workflow – utilizing offshore resources to work through global time zones to keep loans and transactions in motion, optimizing the cycle time. Telreja also brought in many digital solutions for Sutherland clients – introducing robotic process automation, smart ICR technology, big data analytics and omni channel solutioning to revolutionize how a business looked at mortgage processing as they moved away from the conventional steps. Telreja also led the social impact initiatives for the site, and for many years has worked very closely on women and youth welfare programs. She spearheaded a learning project for more than 1,200 underprivileged students that were trained on communication skills by Sutherland employees as volunteers. Telreja religiously runs women’s round table sessions to engage, inspire, mentor and motivate young women’s talent through her experiences and insights and works closely with the Juvenile Home for Girls to help young girls have a better life and to stay positive through their situations.

AUGUST 2020

ANN THORN

Senior Vice President Mortgage Lending/Branch Manager

Chief Loan Administration Officer

Caliber Home Loans

Guaranteed Rate

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o Ann Thierault-Fazio’s work in the industry has been frequently recognized. The senior vice president of mortgage lending at Guaranteed Rate was inducted into the “Woman of Excellence” registry by the National Association of Professional and Executive Women. In addition to her role as senior vice president, in which Thierault-Fazio led the industry with overwhelming production, she also takes pride in her position as branch manager of Guaranteed Rate’s Deerfield, Illinois, office. There, Thierault-Fazio dedicates herself to the job of building and developing a team of talented loan officers to serve the Chicago metropolitan area. Besides her accomplishments as a mortgage lender, Thierault-Fazio helped to expand the Guaranteed Rate Organization of Women. As mentorship director, she created and now manages the organization’s mentorship program, which connects employees across various departments to support the leverage of their talents for success. Over 75 women at Guaranteed Rate have now gone through GROW’s mentorship program, giving them access to a network of support and tools to assist in their career development. Thierault-Fazio is also a sponsor and participant of the Anthony Rizzo Family Foundation, an organization which raises money to support pediatric cancer patients and their families.

MERCEDES VELA

JANETTE WALLER

Senior Leader of Product Management and Customer Solutions CoreLogic Credco

President, Direct Division

First American Title Insurance Company

or over 25 years, Mercedes Vela has been an integral part of the mortgage and credit reporting industry, at the forefront of digitizing mortgage solutions while working with CoreLogic. Vela’s work reinforced her reputation as an industry expert. Vela’s dedication and collaboration with CoreLogic team members have helped define key business strategies and initiatives, creating new boundaries for credit and consumer reporting. Vela is dedicated to ensuring that CoreLogic products and services are delivered with the highest quality as the guiding force for managing integrations and mortgage credit strategy. For six years, Vela was the co-chair of the Mortgage Industry Maintenance Standards Organization credit group, where she rallied to create and develop industry standards for exchanging information and conducting business in the U.S. mortgage finance industry. Vela is known for her wealth of industry and company expertise, as she is tapped for her advice and wisdom frequently by people across CoreLogic and the mortgage industry. Vela spent all of 2019 working side-by-side with Fannie Mae to acquire Day 1 Certainty certification for CoreLogic’s Verification of Employment and Verification of Income products, and works with the GSE continuously to ensure CoreLogic products reach D1C certification.

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anette Waller continues to gain responsibility within First American TItle, utilizing her deep understanding of the title business to provide value to the company. Waller joined First American as an escrow assistant and eventually advanced to become president of First American Title Insurance Company’s Direct Division, a position she was promoted to in January 2019. Waller quickly shaped the division’s positive results, expanding business opportunities through a dedicated focus on strategy, customer service and collaboration. Waller also encouraged an enhanced focus on transparency, which led to greater interaction between leaders and employees, as well as improved efficiency and financial performance.

Waller’s leadership drove the direct division to record levels of pretax margins. Waller’s leadership was honored inside the company as well. Waller was named the 2019 winner of First American’s Virginia Ueberroth Outstanding Woman in Leadership Award. Established in honor of Ginny Ueberroth, a longstanding member of First American’s Board of Directors, the award is sponsored by First American’s Women in Leadership group, a high-impact program designed to help develop women leaders and provide opportunities to engage in important conversations for the company and their own professional development.

AUGUST 2020

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CoreLogic

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s the chief loan administration officer of Caliber Home Loans, Ann Thorn leads the large and dynamic servicing and production operation organization, which has worked tirelessly to address customer needs during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Thorn and her team quickly mobilized more than 2,000 employees to work from home during the COVID-19 crisis, over a period of just a few weeks. By making sure that her vast organization could work safely at home, she demonstrated that her priority was to put Caliber’s employees' safety first. She has a proven track record of influence: In 2019 Thorn and her team facilitated a 49% increase in production by processing, underwriting and closing over 210,000 loans for $60 billion across four sales channels while reducing the cost to produce by 22%. Plus, her group assisted over 9,000 families to stay in their homes over the last year by completing loan modifications and other loss mitigation programs. Thorn is a respected leader at her company and within her community. Proving she is committed to developing the talent of Caliber, in the last year, 75 employees were promoted and 14 had their roles expanded. She sponsored the creation of a women’s employee network at Caliber and is also a member of the Economic Leadership Council of the Texas Women’s Foundation.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

JO ANN THIERAULT-FAZIO

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

CRISTY WARD

GAYLE WEISWASSER

Chief Strategy Officer

Senior Vice President of Communications and Business Development

Mortgage Connect

Homesnap

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risty Ward leads national revenue and business strategy for Mortgage Connect. She is responsible for all lines of revenue within the originations, title and closing services, loss mitigation, default, appraisal, private wealth and home equity divisions.

Ward is instrumental in identifying client pain points, imagining solutions and then helping the team drive them from concept to market launch and implementation. In more than eight years with Mortgage Connect, Ward has cemented relationships with top lending institutions, including money center banks, independent mortgage bankers, servicers and special servicers. Over the course of 2019 Ward’s efforts helped grow Mortgage Connect to more than 1,100 employees. This included the launch of two new offerings: Critical communications services and drone appraisal technology, which is highly effective for disaster appraisals when it is unsafe for appraisers to enter an area.

In September of 2019, Ward organized and hosted the inaugural Women Empowering Women Council event, sponsored by Mortgage Connect and other leading companies. The event, which included six of HousingWire’s 2019 Women of Influence, brought together more than 50 women to set the council’s mission: “To elevate women in our industry through a network of collaboration and support.”

fter Gayle Weiswasser joined the Homesnap team in 2014, she was immediately recognized as a powerhouse. Weiswasser worked independently to manage and execute all business development, while also overseeing Homesnap’s entire marketing strategy. As senior vice president of communications and business development, her team increased Homesnap’s multiple listing service partnerships by 3,043% from 2014 to 2020. Although Weiswasser specifically leads the business development and communications teams at Homesnap, she touches several other departments on a daily basis, and is often approached for her advice. Weiswasser upholds a collaborative work approach, and her ability to push people to grow and reach their full potential is consistently apparent. Since her initiation to Homesnap, she successfully grew her team from just one person to a team of six. Weiswasser encourages her team, and all employees, to think outside the box and take part in molding the company’s success. She is also the founder and host of Homesnap’s bi-weekly podcast, "The Snapshot" – which focuses on digital marketing and business development for real estate agents. Prior to her 14 years of in-house and agency work, Weiswasser earned her B.A. from Brown University, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School.

JACQUELINE WELCH

CHERYL WIEBE

Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity Officer

Senior Manager of Customer Technology

Genworth Mortgage Insurance

Freddie Mac

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hile traditional HR is often characterized as transactional and reactive with a compliance-driven approach, Jacqueline Welch does not take the traditional approach. Instead, she looks beyond this and focuses on being a strategic business leader.

As chief human resources officer and chief diversity officer at Freddie Mac, she leverages best practices in human resources to advise senior leadership on the best human capital decisions to help the company achieve its long-term strategic goals. She leads the business forward with her promise to never lose sight of the humans they serve within the company and outside of it. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, her approach to leading has been more important than ever and is a key ingredient in Freddie Mac’s business successes. Some of these changes and achievements include prioritizing safety and well-being in times of crisis, embedding a culture of inclusion and diversity, launching fresh approaches to better include and engage people and providing new options for employees to prioritize their total well-being. Outside of the crisis, she also equips employees to continuously learn and raise the bar on their performance while embracing disruption, such as partnering with the CEO to roll out new corporate mindsets to shape the right culture to ensure Freddie Mac delivers the right results.

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heryl Wiebe has more than 20 years of experience in mortgage insurance operations, marketing, product management and systems. Before joining Genworth Mortgage in 2017, Wiebe gained substantial experience in executive roles with Arch Mortgage Insurance and United Guaranty Corp. For the past five years, she led large cross-functional teams while driving specific work areas to deliver tasks that, when integrated, fulfill the strategic initiative.

Over the past year as senior manager of customer technology, Wiebe achieved successful project delivery as she helped her company adapt to a rapidly changing pricing environment. During this transition, Wiebe and her team simultaneously completed several integrations and upgrades toward the strategic build-out of Genworth Mortgage Insurance’s website road map. Wiebe’s mission statement is “establishing safe spaces to create solutions to overwhelming challenges.”

This mission has been demonstrated as she wields the skills to cut through language barriers, cultural differences and business discrepancies. Wiebe is also extremely mindful of how her team operates and together delivered 426 story points, an 18% increase over the planned budget allowance. Wiebe’s strong work ethic and leadership skills earned her the Genworth Compass Award, the company’s highest honor awarded to a select few.

AUGUST 2020

JANINA WOODS

CEO

Senior Vice President

Real Property Management Preferred

Planet Management Group

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anina Woods brings more than 30 years of servicing industry experience to meet the needs of special servicing and sub-servicing investors and clients, especially in this year’s unpredictable environment. Woods has driven Planet’s growth, bringing in non-performing, re-performing, small-balance commercial, residential transition loan and single-family residential clients, which tripled the growth of the company’s sub-servicing portfolio between 2016 and 2020. Woods has influenced the industry overall by pioneering servicing programs that grew into industry servicing standards; those standards balance the needs of investors, secondary market participants and borrowers. In 2002, she developed the servicing business plan for one of the first sales of defaulted government loan pools via HUD’s 601 Accelerated Claim and Asset Disposition program (known today as HUD’s Distressed Asset Stabilization program). Now under Woods’ leadership, Planet’s proprietary asset management system has positioned its sub-servicing clients to respond to the default challenges from COVID-19. Based on her experience in prior financial crises, Woods helped clients project how many borrowers were likely to miss mortgage payments during this crisis, as well as the likelihood a borrower will re-perform in the short term.

RAMIE WORD

YULIA YUTSIS

Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Escrow

Vice President of Strategy, Planning and Analytics

Mr. Cooper

Beam Living

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or 16 years, Ramie Word has been considered the “one to get it done” at Mr. Cooper. Word worked her way up from the representative level with determination in her industry, and is now senior vice president of acquisitions and escrow for the company. Word plays a critical role as ally to internal and external partners, clients, regulators and customers. In 2019, her role expanded when she was selected to oversee twice the team size in servicing including escrow, tax and insurance. With 20 years of experience in the industry, her specialties include engaging teams, process improvements, creating efficiencies, minimizing loss and upholding compliance, to name a few. Outside of her traditional responsibilities, she is also a valued sponsor and leader for the diversity and inclusion resource team for Mr. Cooper’s Working Parents. Word paved the way for many women by helping spearhead the Mom’s Group at Mr. Cooper, which focuses on working mothers in real estate. By working with HR and various vendors, she was able to secure gifts to give new moms after they returned from maternity leave. She also helped to ensure the Mom’s Group leadership team stayed on track with planning and marketing for monthly meetings, led monthly collaboration calls, and made sure the updates were posted to Mr. Cooper’s internal social media group page.

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fter emigrating to New York City at the young age of 15, Yulia Yutsis proved her dedication and tenacity when she learned English, earned her Bachelor’s degree from Baruch College, and then focused her sights on an MBA from NYU’s Stern School of Business. Subsequently focusing her studies in real estate finance and analytics, Yutsis began her career working at Beam Living as a senior financial analyst. Through her quest to constantly improve both herself and those around her, she was recently promoted to vice president of the strategy, planning and analytics department. Over the last year as vice president, Yutsis achieved both financial and operational success by creating a revenue management platform, spearheading Beam Living’s major data and business intelligence initiatives, and guiding the organization through unprecedented regulatory challenges. Yutsis actively displays leadership by exhibiting pride and loyalty to her team and company, as evidenced by her 14 years with the firm. Her leadership style is one that puts trust in her team's work and decision-making, but she is always ready to roll up her sleeves. Yutsis is an integral member of the Beam Women’s League – a group that empowers young professional women. She also conducts seminars where she shares experiences of her own hurdles as a woman in real estate.

AUGUST 2020

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J

oni Wolfswinkel skillfully navigated the firm to one of its most successful years in her two-decades-long tenure in the real estate business. At Real Property Management Preferred, Wolfswinkel inspires her team with her “courage under fire” leadership style and her ability to stay focused and deliver the company’s core values to better serve its clients. Wolfswinkel’s success draws itself from her tireless commitment to excellence, and her encouragement to pursue better results with importance and urgency. Outside the office, Wolfswinkel’s community service efforts are far-reaching. She is persistent in her dedication to servant leadership and mentors her team to “give back and pay it forward.” Currently, Wolfswinkel serves on the board of directors for the Bridge the Gaps Foundation, a non-profit organization setup to assist underprivileged, lower-income, minority and at-risk athletic students by reconnecting their cultural, emotional, mental and educational gaps. Wolfswinkel and her family are also sponsors to special needs children through the Lenn Foundation, and have spent several years actively volunteering with Generous Genius. Wolfswinkel is currently spearheading and launching an entrepreneurial podcast and is authoring a book that highlights the importance of empowering women across all industries.

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020

JONI WOLFSWINKEL

WOMEN OF INFLUENCE 2020