BILL EMERSON
Chief Executive Officer
Quicken Loans, Inc.
Bill Emerson is Chief Executive Officer of Quicken Loans Inc., the nation’s largest
online home loan lender and second largest retail mortgage lender. He is
responsible for the leadership and growth of Quicken Loans.
Bill joined the company in 1993 as a Mortgage Banker. His passion and
commitment for learning and growing, as well as his zeal for taking care of
clients, helped him take on many roles at the company.
His leadership ability afforded him the opportunity to run several business units at
Quicken Loans and lead mortgage operations for the company, where he was
responsible for driving performance within Quicken Loans’ businesses.
In February of 2002, Bill was promoted to Chief Executive Officer. Under his
leadership, Quicken Loans closed $220 billion in home loan volume across all 50 states since 2013.
Bill is an active spokesman for the housing industry and has testified before the United States Senate
Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs and the House Financial Services Subcommittee on
Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. He was sworn in as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers
Association (MBA) in October 2015 and will serve in this role through 2016. In addition, Bill is the former
Vice-Chairman of the MBA’s Residential Board of Governors. He is also a member of the Financial
Services Roundtable’s Housing Policy Council (HPC) and the HPC’s Executive Council.
Bill is a member of the Board of Directors of Xenith, Inc., a football helmet company dedicated to
advancing safety through innovation and education; the Detroit Economic Club; The Parade Company
and the Skillman Foundation.
Dedicated to his community, Bill has been the recipient of the ALS Association’s Iron Horse Award and
the Salvation Army’s prestigious William Booth Award, the nonprofit’s highest honor. He also supports
the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Michigan Chapter.
Bill earned a bachelor’s degree in business from Penn State, where he was a member of the University’s
1982 National Championship football team.
Bill and his wife reside in the Detroit area with their two children.
BRUCE DORPALEN
Executive Director
National Housing Resource Center
Bruce Dorpalen is the Executive Director of the nonprofit National
Housing Resource Center (NHRC), which brings together the
nonprofit housing counseling community on policy, program, and
funding issues. NHRC has been active in increasing funding for
housing counseling, bringing housing counseling agencies to the
policy table, integrating housing counseling into the mortgage
origination and servicing process, and improving communication with
HUD and other federal agencies. More information on NHRC can be
found at www.hsgcenter.org.
Bruce has directed housing counseling programs since 1985, negotiated community reinvestment
partnerships with over 40 banks, developed models for low income mortgage underwriting
which were used extensively by the industry, and created community-based outreach and
education programs for minority, lower income, single parent, immigrant and other underserved
populations. These programs provided affordable mortgages to over 110,000 families in 30
cities across the country. In the foreclosure crisis, he designed counseling programs which
assisted over 75,000 delinquent homeowners and increased the communication between housing
counselors and mortgage servicers. He also developed programs for homeowners devastated
after Hurricane Katrina, anti-predatory lending programs, refinance programs, and homeowners
insurance programs.
Prior to 1985, Bruce worked as a community organizer in Philadelphia, Atlanta, Greensboro, NC,
Raleigh, NC, Brockton, MA, and Providence, RI. Bruce also spent a year as a public interest
lobbyist and advocate on housing and utility reform issues in Connecticut. Bruce graduated
with honors from Brown University with a BA in Urban Studies in 1974.
CHARMAINE BROWN
Director
Office of Diversity and Inclusion
Fannie Mae
Charmaine Brown is a Director in Fannie Mae’s Office of Diversity and
Inclusion (ODI). She is accountable for developing and implementing
diversity and inclusion strategies that meet and exceed Section 1116
of the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA).
Charmaine’s primary areas of focus are the development of programs
and initiatives that expand the capabilities of minorities and women,
leveraging Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) to support business
goals, and building the capacity of trusted advisors and communitybased organizations to expand access to affordable credit for
multicultural families.
Prior to joining the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Charmaine spent 15 years in Fannie Mae’s
Housing and Community Development and Single Family Mortgage Business.
Charmaine holds a masters degree from The John Hopkins University, completed the Diversity
Management Program at Cornell’s ILR School, and is certified in the Intercultural Development
Inventory (IDI), a cross-cultural competency assessment tool where she was assessed at
Adaptation, the highest level of competency on the five-point continuum.
She is a member of the American Association of Access, Equity, and Diversity, Women in Housing
and Finance, The Conference Board Diversity Leadership Council, and the Securities Industries
and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Charmaine also
sits on the Housing Advisory Board of HomeFree USA.
CHERYL NOLDA
Marketing Senior Vice President
Wells Fargo Consumer Lending Group
Wells Fargo & Company
Cheryl Nolda is Senior Vice President of Marketing for Wells Fargo’s
Consumer Lending Group. In her role, she oversees all marketing,
branding, and reputation strategy for multiple products, business lines
and distribution channels across Wells Fargo Home Lending, the nation’s
leading originator of residential mortgages.
Nolda brings 30 years of business and marketing leadership with her to
Wells Fargo. Her leadership experience spans the financial services
industry and includes positions with Citi, Prudential, GE Capital,
SunTrust, and Bank One. Most recently she served as the Executive Vice
President of Home Lending Solutions for Citizen’s Bank where she led
the end-to-end residential mortgage lending business, which included
oversight of marketing, business growth, sales support, and product development.
In all roles, she has a proven track record of leading teams, inspiring results and building
beloved and well-recognized brands by creating brand relevance and differentiation, and
driving consumer engagement.
In addition to her business and marketing acumen, Nolda is an energetic and passionate leader
known for developing high performing leaders and teams, building innovative strategy,
accelerating business growth, and serving customers.
Currently residing in Richmond, Virginia, Nolda is a native of St. Louis and a Summa cum Laude
graduate from the University of Missouri. She has also attended executive training programs at
the University of Virginia, Emory University, GE’s Crotonville Training Center and the Royal Bank
of Scotland’s Edinburgh campus.
She has also been active in multiple charitable causes including fund raising for the United Way,
Making Strides Against Breast Cancer, the American Diabetes Association, Haiti Relief and the
American Red Cross.
CONNIE WRIGHT
Assistant Director & National Housing Relationship Manager
Wells Fargo Housing Foundation
Wells Fargo & Company
Constance Wright, a seasoned banker of 27 years with Wells
Fargo and its legacy companies, is the Assistant Director and
National Housing Relationship Manager for the Wells Fargo
Housing Foundation. Wright is responsible for managing the
National Housing Grant Program to include operational and
strategic direction.
Prior to joining the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation, Wright
was a Community Development Officer with Wells
Fargo/Wachovia/First Union for nearly 20 years. While
supporting Greater Georgia, she managed 15 mid-tier, small
and rural regions. She also supported the Atlanta region during her tenure as a
Community Development Officer. Known for collaboration and innovation Wright has
leveraged relationships with both internal and external partners to maximize impact
and help lead areas under her purview to three outstanding CRA ratings.
Beyond her role as Community Development Officer, Wright has held several key
positions with the bank to include Branch Manager, Volunteer Coordinator for the state
of Georgia, and a First Union loaned executive for the Atlanta Project, an initiative led
by President Jimmy Carter to revitalize low income communities in the city of Atlanta.
CORA R. FULMORE
President
The Counselor’s Corner
Cora is recognized as an industry’s expert on consumer credit and
homeownership counseling. For over 30 years she has served as a
spokesperson, mortgage and credit counselor, and advocate for
policies that promote creative and safe lending practices for the
benefit of our nation’s homebuyers and homeowners. She has
spoken at events sponsored by Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation (FDIC), National Association of Realtors (NAR),
NeighborWorks America, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. She has
participated in regional forums including the Florida HOPE Task Force, the Nonprofit Housing
Roundtable of Central Florida, the “Safe At Home” conference by Florida Legal Services for probono attorneys, and foreclosure prevention workshops nationwide.
Cora is a training instructor for Freddie Mac’s CreditSmart® which is a financial literacy
curriculum; and she is the creator and developer of the “Counselor’s Corner” – an online resource
and training tool for Housing Counseling Professionals.
Ms. Fulmore is a graduate of Texas College in Tyler, Texas.
DANNY GARDNER
Vice President
Single-Family Affordable Lending and Access to Credit
Freddie Mac
Danny joined Freddie Mac in March 2015 as its new Vice
President for Affordable Lending and Access to Credit. He is a 23
year veteran of the Mortgage Industry, with the majority of that
time spent in leadership roles focused on providing opportunities
for families to purchase their first homes.
He began this journey in 1995 when he took over management of
the MRB Program Administration Division of Lomas Mortgage
USA, primarily supporting Local Housing Finance Agencies and
their constituents by acquiring and servicing mortgages
originated through tax-exempt lending programs.
Danny maintained this role for 13 years and through two acquisitions, eventually ascending to the title of
SVP and National Director of Strategic Markets at Citimortgage, where he assumed accountability for the
company’s mortgage lending performance under the Community Reinvestment Act, including oversight
of subsidy programs, non-profit partnerships, diverse segments strategies and LMI-focused portfolio
programs.
At the advent of the recent foreclosure crisis, Danny was given a unique opportunity to help build a new
national non-profit intermediary organization: the National Community Stabilization Trust. Serving as its
Chief Operating Officer, the Trust established a national infrastructure to help local municipalities and
non-profits in their mission to reclaim neighborhoods devastated by the foreclosure crisis by providing
priority access to properties that were vital to neighborhood stabilization efforts.
Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Danny was Vice President of CRA Lending at Capital One Home Loans,
where he built a diverse and LMI-focused loan origination team. He is a lifelong Texan and currently
resides in Northern Virginia. He enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids.
Freddie Mac was established by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity, stability and affordability to the
nation’s residential mortgage markets. Freddie Mac supports communities across the nation by providing
mortgage capital to lenders. Today Freddie Mac is making home possible for one in four home borrowers
and is one of the largest sources of financing for multifamily housing. For more information please visit
www.FreddieMac.com and Twitter @FreddieMac.)
The Reverend Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr.
Senior Pastor
First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens
The Reverend Dr. DeForest B. Soaries, Jr. has served as the Senior Pastor
of First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens (FBCLG) in Somerset, New Jersey
since November 1990. His pastoral ministry focuses on spiritual growth,
educational excellence, economic empowerment, and faith-based
community development.
As a pioneer of faith-based community development, Dr. Soaries’ impact
on First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens (FBCLG) and the community has
been tremendous. In 1992, he founded the Central Jersey Community
Development Corporation (CJCDC): a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that
specializes in helping vulnerable neighborhoods. In 1996, the CJCDC
launched Harvest of Hope Family Services Network, Inc. (HOH). This
organization seeks to develop permanent solutions for foster children and
parents.
From 1999 to 2002, Dr. Soaries served as New Jersey’s Secretary of State, making him the first AfricanAmerican male to do so. He also served as the former chairman of the United States Election
Assistance Commission, which was established by Congress to implement the “Help America Vote Act”
of 2002.
In 2005, Dr. Soaries launched the dfree® Financial Freedom Movement. The dfree® strategy teaches
people how to break free from debt. In 2011, Dr. Soaries wrote his first book: “dfree®: Breaking Free
from Financial Slavery” (Zondervan), which highlights his top 12 keys to debt-free living.
Dr. Soaries currently serves as an Independent Director at Independence Realty Trust, a position he
has held since February 2011. He has also served as an Independent Director of the Federal Home
Loan Bank of New York since January 2009. And in January 2015, he became a Director of Ocwen
Financial Corporation.
Dr. Soaries earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Fordham University, a Master of Divinity Degree
from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Doctor of Ministry Degree from United Theological
Seminary.
Dr. Soaries resides in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey with his wife, Donna, and twin sons.
DEXTER L. PEARSON
Outreach Advisor
Office of Community Engagement
Rural Development Office
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Mr. Dexter L. Pearson currently serves as Outreach Advisor at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development’s Office of
Community Engagement in Washington, DC. He is responsible for
identifying
community
development
opportunities,
building
partnerships, and creating access to a portfolio of over 40 programs
totaling more than $40 billion dollars. Mr. Pearson has more than
15years experience working in the legislative, executive, and local
branches of government. He brings expertise in the areas of business
and community development and public policy. Since joining USDA over
5 years ago, Dexter has worked to connect small businesses, higher
education institutions, and rural communities to USDA programs and
services.
Before USDA, Mr. Pearson was a key advisor in the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of
Representatives. He was Senior Professional Staff Member to the U.S. Senate Committee on
Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry under the leadership of Chairwoman, Senator Blanche L.
Lincoln. He provided policy advice on rural development, agricultural research, and civil rights.
Mr. Pearson also worked as Legislative Assistant and Projects Director for U.S. Congressman Vic
Snyder of Arkansas where he provided policy advice on issues ranging from agriculture, small
business, telecommunications, homeland security, and led the Congressman's legislative agenda
on the U.S. House Veteran Affairs Committee.
Mr. Pearson is a native of Wynne, Arkansas and holds Bachelors and Master’s degrees in Public
Administration from the University of Central Arkansas and Webster University, respectively. In
his free time he enjoys football, traveling, and spending time with his wife Margaret and his
daughter Annelise.
FLOYD R. DAVIS, JR.
President and CEO
Community Link
Floyd R. Davis Jr is the President and CEO of Community Link a non-profit organization he
has led since 2002. Community Link’s purpose is “To enable individuals and families to
obtain and sustain safe, decent and affordable housing”. It is somewhat serendipitous
considering the history of the Community Link organization and Floyd Davis’ background
that both would eventually find each other.Floyd’s background includes a wealth of social
service experience in variety of geographic locations.
Prior to joining Community Link in Charlotte, Floyd was President and CEO of United
Community Centers, Inc. and Family Services, Inc., in Fort Worth, TX. Before that he
devoted over 20 years of his career serving various United Way executive positions in
Minneapolis, New York City and Miami, FL. He was President and Chief Professional Officer
of the United Way of Genesee and Lapeer Counties in Flint, MI and also served as President and CPO of the United
Way of Forsyth County in Winston-Salem, NC.
From this extensive background Floyd has come to realize how complex our country’s human services system is and
how difficult it is for most people to figure out how to access and benefit from the services. As a result, Floyd has
made one of his professional goals to change and improve the service delivery system for families and individuals
who must depend on the system. One way Floyd has tried to accomplish this goal has been to attract and keep
quality employees and maintain uninterrupted service to customers. Floyd manages the Community Link
organization more like a medical practice than a traditional human services agency. One fundamental difference is
in the way grants are written and secured.
In 2004, UJAMMA, Inc., also a non-profit organization merged with Community Link. UJAMMA’s mission had been,
“to prepare families in the Metrolina area to move toward wealth creation through homeownership In 2011 and
2012, Floyd was approached by the Latin American Coalition and the Economic Development division of United
Families Services, respectively, to absorb their homeownership programs.Through this consolidation, Community
Link was able to expand services to include programs to assist homeowners facing foreclosure. In 2010, Community
Link began to provide services to homeowners that had moderately deteriorated homes that needed rehabilitation
repairs, allowing the homeowner to sustain their housing.
Looking back upon his career, it is easy to see how Floyd acquired his passion to help others. After graduating from
Norfolk State University with a degree in accounting & business administration, Floyd’s first experience working
with a human services organization was that of controller at Model Cities, in Poughkeepsie, NY. Model Cities,
worked to get citizens to revitalize their neighborhoods.
Floyd has been married to his wife Ann since 1976 and they live in Charlotte. They have 2 grown sons.
GREG GOYNE
Senior Vice President, Brand Marketing
Nationstar Mortgage
Greg Goyne is SVP of Brand Marketing at Nationstar Mortgage.
In this role, Greg is responsible for keeping the dream of home
ownership alive, identifying brand touchpoints, and then
developing and executing strategic marketing plans to
successfully build our brand among key constituents. Heading
the company’s efforts to rebrand itself, Greg led a team to
research and define the new brand promise with the goal of
providing an improved customer experience and greater
customer loyalty.
Over the course of his career, Greg has led the development and execution of integrated
marketing programs for a wide variety of blue-chip brands in healthcare, technology,
hospitality, retail, consumer packaged goods, consumer durable goods, real estate, media,
fashion and non-profit categories, including blue-chip brands such as McDonald’s, Heinz, Kraft,
Nokia, Huawei, MADD, Centex, FedEx, Motel 6, Red Roof Inns, Sonic Drive-Ins, Brinker and
Darden restaurants. Greg earned his Bachelor of Arts followed by a MBA in brand management,
both from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
HEATHER LOVIER
Senior Vice President of Client Experience
Quicken Loans
Heather is the Senior Vice President of Client Experience at Quicken Loans.
Her team is focused on ensuring every Quicken Loans client has an amazing
experience. The Client Experience Team is comprised of five different
groups who work together to enhance our interactions with our clients: the
Client Relations Team, the Communication Team, the Mousetrap Team, the
Client Development Team and the Servicing Client Experience Team. The
team members in Client Relations are frontline every day, interacting with
our clients throughout the loan process, helping them and listening to their
feedback. The Communication Team focuses on helping our clients while
their loan is in process, whether it’s a purchase or refinance. Mousetrap is
focused on improving our existing processes and coming up with new
solutions based on client feedback. Our Client Development Team is
focused on continuously engaging clients in a meaningful way after closing
their loan, so they return to QL for their next loan and tell others to do the
same. The Servicing Client Experience Team works to continuously improve the process and
communication with our Serviced clients.
Heather began her career at Quicken Loans in April 2003 as a loan analyst working in Operations.
Shortly thereafter, she joined the Mousetrap team to work on visibility and prioritization for the
company, mainly focusing on Operations. Heather established, and began leading, the Business
Development team as Vice President in 2008. Her team was responsible for building and
strengthening the relationships the company holds with business partners, which ultimately serve to
leverage the mortgage platform and maximize the needs of clients. Heather grew the Business
Development team until she started leading the client experience team in late 2014.
Before joining Quicken Loans, Heather worked for an automotive supplier for eight years where she
managed a customer service team.
Heather lives in Rockwood, Michigan with her husband and daughters. She enjoys spending quality
time together as a family, and being a busy mom of two teenagers! Heather is also very passionate
about community involvement, and is on the Board of Directors at Gleaners Community Food Bank in
addition to being a Wish Coordinator with the Make A Wish Foundation.
HOLLY OLSSON
Senior Policy Analyst
Mortgage Servicing Policy
Freddie Mac
Holly Olsson is a Senior Policy Analyst in the Single Family Business organization at Freddie Mac.
Holly is responsible for recommending and developing servicing related policies, mostly in the
area of loss mitigation, including loan modifications and Hardest Hit Funds.
Holly has been at Freddie Mac for 8 years. Before coming to Servicing Policy in 2010, she worked
in Operational Risk Management.
JAMES H. CARR
Senior Fellow
Center for American Progress
Jim Carr is a housing finance, banking and urban policy consultant. He is also a Senior Fellow with the
Center for American Progress and recently appointed Coleman A. Young Endowed Chair and Professor of
Urban Affairs, Wayne State University. Previously, Jim served as Chief Business Officer for the National
Community Reinvestment Coalition where he managed minority- and women-owned business centers in
Washington, DC; New York, NY; and Houston, TX that assisted their clients to access more than $1.8
billion in capital and $350 million in federal contracts during his tenure. Prior to his appointment to
NCRC, Jim was Senior Vice President for Financial Innovation, Planning and Research for the Fannie Mae
Foundation where he built one of the most prestigious housing and urban policy research centers in the
U.S. He also served as Vice President for Housing Research at Fannie Mae, Assistant Director for Tax
Policy and Federal Credit with the U.S. Senate Budget Committee and Research Associate at the Center
for Urban Policy Research at Rutgers University.
Jim has served as a Visiting Professor at Columbia University and an Executive Committee Member of Americans for Financial
Reform. Jim currently serves on the Boards of Directors of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation, Woodstock Institute, and
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago. He also serves as an Advisory Committee Member for EquityKey Services, LLC. Jim has
served on research or policy advisory boards at numerous colleges and universities, including Harvard University, University of
California-Berkeley, and University of Pennsylvania. He is an Advisory Committee Member of the Federal Reserve Bank of San
Francisco Center for Community Development Investments, an Advisory Board Member of the John Marshall Law School, and a
Braintruster (blogger) for the Roosevelt Institute. Jim previously served on the Corporate Advisory Board of the Urban Financial
Services Coalition and as an instructor for the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute. Jim has also been an advisor to the
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Urban Affairs Project Group in Paris, France. Also, Jim has served
as an international advisor on financial modernization and housing finance to China, Mexico, Turkey, and Colombia. Furthermore, he
has served on Congressional delegations to South Africa and Ghana on housing and economic development.
Jim has testified on numerous occasions before the United States Congress on issues related to the economy, housing markets,
financial system regulatory reform, and wealth disparities and economic mobility. He is particularly recognized for his knowledge
about and leadership on the development of financial instruments and strategies to promote sustainable affordable home lending,
inner-city community and economic development, and wealth creation for low-income households. Jim has appeared on CNN,
CNBC, Bloomberg, MSNBC, FOX News, PBS, and a variety of local news stations in Washington, DC and New York. He has been
interviewed on Newsweek on Air, Bloomberg Radio, and National Public Radio. Jim has been quoted and his research cited in various
major newspapers including the Washington Post, USA Today, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Associated
Press, Reuters, and numerous additional media outlets. Jim's speeches have been awarded top honors, including the “Best of the
Best” award by the International Association of Business Communicators. Jim is the founder and former editor of the scholarly
journal Housing Policy Debate (now published by Routledge) which, during Jim’s 18 years as editor, was routinely rated one of the
nation’s premier urban studies research journals by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). He also served for more than a
decade as editor of the peer-reviewed publication Journal of Housing Research. Jim’s recent books include Replicating Microfinance
in the United States and Segregation: The Rising Costs for America.
Jim has earned numerous professional and academic honors and awards. He served as a Distinguished Scholar with the Opportunity
Agenda in New York, NY (2013-1014), as Closing the Racial Wealth Gap Fellow with the Insight Center for Community Economic
Development (2012), Oakland, CA., Aspen Institute Scholar (2004), recipient of the 2003 Community Impact Award from the National
Organization of Black County Officials, the 1998 Presidential Award from the National Association of Urban Bankers, and an
Outstanding Achievement Award by the Neighborhood Reinvestment Training Institute in 1996. Jim holds a Bachelor of Architecture
degree with honors from Hampton University, a Master of Urban Planning degree from Columbia University, and a Master of City and
Regional Planning degree from University of Pennsylvania.
JERRY PAFFENDORF
Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer
LOVELAND Technologies
Jerry Paffendorf is co-founder and C.E.O. of LOVELAND
Technologies, a property mapping and data company based in
Detroit, Mich., whose mission is to map and survey every parcel
of property on the planet. LOVELAND has created the largest free
database of public property information in the United
States, with more than 130 million parcels covering where more
than 90 percent of Americans live. Search for your address and
explore national property ownership at makeloveland.com.
LOVELAND built the technology that powers Motor City Mapping,
an effort to keep updated information and photography about every single property in the city
of Detroit, including vacancy and blight indicators. This database is accessible to and updatable
by city departments as well as city residents, and has proven key to the city’s recent blight
removal, land use planning and community engagement efforts. This technology is now being
adopted in a growing number of cities around the country.
Jerry has a G.E.D. and a Masters of Science in studies of the future from the University of
Houston – Clear Lake. He can be reached at [email protected].
JILL FORTE-JACKSON
Multi-Media Account Manager
Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jill Forte-Jackson is a 14+ year team member with the Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, a Cox Media Group affiliate. Her current
title is Multi-Media Account Manager where she specializes in
helping her client base put their message in front of their target
audience, utilizing a media mix of newspaper, owned and
operated digital (ajc.com), magazine, direct mail, ad network,
social media platforms and more!
Jill has an extensive career with the company working in
departments from circulation to preprints to media planning to
sales and has won various company awards such as OTP (Out
Standing Top Performer) of the quarter & year for support,
SPOTY (Sales Person of the Year), GEM (Going the Extra Mile) award for support. Her emphasis is
on the Real Estate vertical and she has a special interest in non-profits and small businesses and
is constantly seeking out strategies to meet the budget of the smallest to the largest companies
and organizations.
Jill is deeply rooted in the Atlanta real estate community, holding several positions and
memberships with various trade organizations like Cobb Association of Realtors (affiliate
member), Empire Board of Realtists-NAREB (PR Committee Chairman), NAHREP-National
Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (Board Member 2016), Atlanta Apartment
Association (Member), and others.
She calls Atlanta home, but was born in Tampa, Florida & raised in London, Ohio by her parents
with her younger sister, Dawn. She’s a Florida A & M Rattler, an alto in her church choir, an
aspiring author and non-profit CEO. Jill is “Darling Wife” to Antonio, “Ma” to Justin, Jeriah,
Jared & Jordan, and “Grammy” to her 8 “babies”. Contact Jill at [email protected].
JILL A. SHOWELL
Senior Vice President for Government and Community Relations
Ocwen Financial Corporation
Jill is the Senior Vice President for Government and Community relations
at Ocwen Financial Corporation. In this role, Jill manages the corporation’s
relationships with Congress, regulatory agencies, consumer advocacy
groups and housing trade associations.
Ms. Showell has over 25 years of experience in public policy, government
relations, and consumer outreach with a strong focus on mortgage finance
issues. She was most recently the Vice President for Government Relations
at the mortgage insurer, The PMI Group, where she built and managed their government relations
office in Washington D.C. Prior to that, Jill spent 12 years in government relations at Freddie Mac.
She began her career on Capitol Hill working for a Member of Congress who served on the House
Banking Committee and also spent two years at the Mortgage Bankers Association. Jill received a
BA in Political Science and History from the George Washington University.
JONATHAN M. LAWLESS
Vice President – Product Development and Affordable Housing
Fannie Mae
Current Responsibilities: Jonathan Lawless is Fannie Mae’s Vice
President – Product Development and Affordable Housing. He reports
to the Senior Vice President – Strategy, Insight, and Marketing.
Lawless is responsible for developing solutions to address challenges
in access to credit and affordable housing, as well as other solutions
to support lenders and services.
Experience: Lawless has led the development of several key Fannie
Mae offerings – including HomeReady®, the company’s flagship
affordability product, and FM Connect™, an end-to-end, dynamic
reporting tool for Fannie Mae customers. Prior to his current position, he was Vice President –
Underwriting and Pricing Analytics, where he leveraged analytical resources across the company
to influence key pricing, underwriting, and portfolio management decisions. Lawless joined
Fannie Mae in 2000 as a Statistical Analysis System intern in credit policy.
Other Affiliations: Lawless works with 2Seeds Network, a non-profit group involved in
agricultural development in East Africa.
Education: Lawless has a bachelor of arts in philosophy from St. John’s College and a master of
science in finance from George Washington University.
JUSTIN HERRING
Conventional Product Manager
Quicken Loans, Inc.
Justin Herring is the conventional product manager for
Quicken Loans, Inc., the nation's largest online retail
mortgage lender and the second largest retail mortgage
lender in the U.S. It is also the nation's leading Veteran
Affairs (VA) lender and the largest FHA lender.
He joined the company in 2012, subsequently leading the company’s launch of
Freddie Mac’s Home Possible and Home Possible Advantage products.
Justin graduated summa cum laude from Oakland University’s Honors College,
with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.
Kathy Cummings
Senior Vice President
Affordable Programs & Strategic Relationships Executive
Bank of America
Kathy Cummings is the Affordable Programs and Strategic Relationships
Executive for Bank of America Home Loans Neighborhood Lending team.
Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving
individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large
corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management
and other financial and risk management products and services.
Cummings supports Bank of America’s commitment to being a responsible
lender and creating opportunities for successful homeownership through
identifying and making available to our clients affordable housing
programs offered by Housing Finance Agencies, local governments and
non-profits across the country. Additionally, she is responsible for managing non-profit and trade
organization strategic relationships and program offerings.
Upon joining the bank in 2003, Cummings served as Technology Service Delivery Manager,
delivering technology solutions to the mortgage business. She has also served as National Pricing
Manager, where she represented Bank of America during the Countrywide transition. She has held
her current role since July 2008.
Cummings has more than 25 years experience in mortgage banking working both within business
and technology organizations. Previous roles include System Administrator for National Production
LOS and Information Systems Manager at J.P. Morgan Chase; Production Risk Management and
Director of Fraud Management at Wells Fargo; and Production Risk Management Analyst at
Prudential Home Mortgage. She also attended the University of Missouri – St. Louis majoring in
Computer Science, performs volunteer work for underserved communities and is a member of the
Community Link Board of Directors, NCHEC Advisory Council and the National Industry Standards
Advisory Council.
KIM SCHOTT
CEO / Founder
Schott Cultural Marketing
We started in 2006, became a business in 2007, and here we are
today voted one of Constant Contact's All Star Award Winners for
mobile friendly and mobile responsive digital marketing solutions. I
first created the Keys to Client Communication System™ to help my
clients build stronger relationships in a global marketplace using
technology. Having been trained in the Six Sigma Green Belt
philosophy, I felt an instant connection with other Southeast
Michigan business owners through sharing my respect for diversity
and business processes.
In 2008, Schott Cultural Consulting expanded the Email Marketing Department to increase our
multilingual marketing capabilities and integrate multicultural newsletter systems with websites
using Constant Contact’s software tools. Our strategic partnership with Constant Contact was
strengthened when we became one of the first Master Certified Solution Providers in Michigan.
Our team comes from around the globe, but our goal is simple: to provide you with the most
successful mobile responsive website and digital marketing solutions that you need to attract
more loyal clients, increase revenue and lower your advertising costs.
We have worked with small and mid-size businesses and non-profit organizations in Michigan
and around the globe by creating long lasting relationships that honor diversity, brand
awareness that engages conversation, and influences business owners. As our strategic
partnerships continue to grow, we will provide you with even more easy to use digital marketing
solutions. Our goal is to help our clients keep their customers happy, so that they can attract
and engage a new generation of prospects
KIMBERLY H. JOHNSON
Senior Vice President & Chief Risk Officer
Fannie Mae
Kimberly H. Johnson is Fannie Mae's Senior Vice President and Chief Risk
Officer. Ms. Johnson is responsible for Enterprise Risk Management, which
oversees the company’s governance and strategy for global risk
management. The team provides independent oversight and guidance for
managing risk and ensuring compliance, including the development and
implementation of risk management measures across the company. Her
team leads the efforts to build and sustain a strong risk culture in which all
employees act on their responsibility to manage strategic, market, credit,
liquidity, compliance, operational, reputational, and information security
(including cyber risk). Ms. Johnson chairs the Enterprise Risk Committee
and she is a member of the Management Committee, Fannie Mae's
leadership team.
Ms. Johnson served as the company's Deputy Chief Risk Officer starting in June 2013. Prior to that,
Ms. Johnson was Senior Vice President — Multifamily Capital Markets and Pricing, with
responsibility for establishing credit pricing terms to maximize the profitability of the multifamily
credit book and for overseeing Multifamily Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (DUS) securities
trading and the Guaranteed Multifamily Structures (GeMS) resecuritization program. Earlier, she
was Vice President for Capital Markets – Multifamily, and Vice President – Credit Risk, Enterprise
Risk Management.
Before joining Fannie Mae in 2006, Ms. Johnson was a Director at Credit Suisse, where her
responsibilities included financial institution fixed-income sales coverage of hedge funds, money
managers, and U.S. government-sponsored entities. Previously, she was a U.S. Equity Trader at
D.E. Shaw & Co.
Ms. Johnson has a bachelor of arts in economics from Princeton University and a master of
business administration in finance from Columbia Business School. She lives in McLean, Virginia
with her husband Mark and two daughters. Ms. Johnson serves as a Director on the Boards of
the Greater Washington Board Trade, Communities in Schools of the Nation’s Capital, and the
After-school All Stars.
KRISTIN FAUST
President
Neighborhood Housing Services of Chicago
Kristin Faust joined the NHS staff as President in October of 2014.
As president, Ms. Faust is responsible for providing visionary and
creative leadership to address the changing needs of the
communities and populations that are served by the organization.
Additionally, she is charged with ensuring financial and fiscal
management of the organization and diversifying NHS' lines of
business and programs as well as funding sources to ensure its
ongoing success. She inherits an organization with a 40-year track
record of serving over 200,000 clients, funding nearly $600,000,000
in loans and creating nearly 35,000 new homeowners.
Before joining NHS, Ms. Faust was the Chief Credit Officer at
Partners for the Common Good in Washington, DC. In the position, she was responsible for
overseeing a $27,000,000 loan fund and using collaborative strategies to co-lend with over 35
CDFI lending partners across the county. Prior to that, Ms. Faust spent five years as President of
the Enterprise Community Loan Fund, providing strategic leadership for a $250 million financial
institution specializing in acquisition and predevelopment financing for developers of affordable
housing. Ms. Faust comes to NHS with nearly 15 years of community banking experience in
Chicago, rising to the position of Senior Vice President and Division Head for Community
Development at LaSalle National Bank. She was named a Mayor’s Fellow for the City of Chicago,
a member of Crain’s Chicago Business Forty Under 40 and is a recent graduate of the inaugural
class of the Citi Leadership Program for Opportunity Finance.
MARK COLE
Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer
Hope LoanPort
HLP is a social enterprise 501(c)3 nonprofit that connects families
with the stakeholders needed to attain and maintain homeownership.
It is a national, neutral utility that provides transparency and
accountability for the exchange of information and documents in
these transactions. In his role, Mark leads the efforts to expand the
platform’s capabilities and use, particularly in the regulatory,
technology and consumer advocacy sectors.
With more than 25 years as a senior executive in the nonprofit
sector, Mark brings a wealth of experience in finding practical and
innovative solutions to business problems. From start-ups to
mature organizations, he has helped lead organizations through a broad range of business
cycles and stages of evolution. He has been responsible for developing and executing the
business and strategic plans to achieve company goals. During his career, he has forged
strategic partnerships and led highly-complex service organizations to deliver the promised
results through direct service channels, technology, quality assurance and research/reporting
functions. Most recently, he served as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for
CredAbility.
Mark currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Neighborhood Nexus, a collaborative to bring
better data to metro Atlanta decision-makers. A graduate of Leadership Atlanta, he has
previously served on the boards of the Better Business Bureau, Hope LoanPort, Community
Friendship and TechBridge. He is also a graduate of NeighborWorks' prestigious Achieving
Excellence in Community Development program, hosted in collaboration with Harvard
University's Kennedy School of Government.
Mark is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington..
MARK MCARDLE
Deputy Assistant Secretary
Office of Financial Stability
U.S. Department of the Treasury
Mark McArdle is the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability at
the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In his role, he leads the Office of
Financial Stability (OFS), which oversees the Troubled Asset Relief
Program (TARP), including its remaining investment and homeownership
preservation programs, and advises the department on housing finance
reform matters.
McArdle held previous roles at OFS including Chief of the Homeownership
Preservation Office and Director of the Hardest Hit Fund. McArdle has
played a key role in policy development for the Home Affordable
Modification Program (HAMP), and oversaw the creation of the Hardest Hit Fund, which provides
funding to state housing finance agencies for foreclosure prevention efforts.
McArdle began his career as a fair lending test coordinator for the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee
for Civil Rights, and since then has worked in nonprofits and government in Chicago, New York
and Washington, D.C. As a policy analyst with the Government Accountability Office (GAO), he
worked on issues related to housing, welfare reform, and economic development. While
Director of Research for a large homeless services provider in New York City (BRC), he oversaw
the performance management process for 23 programs providing housing and other services to
homeless clients. Immediately before coming to Treasury, he was a Senior Research Analyst
with the National Urban League, focusing on economic and housing policy.
MATT CARDWELL
Director, Social Media
Quicken Loans
Matt joined Quicken Loans in 2004 as the Director of Internet Marketing
and was responsible for leading and growing the Web Marketing Team and
helping develop and execute on the company’s online strategies. This
included developing the company’s early social media and content
strategy. In 2009, Matt accepted the position of Vice President of
Marketing at Quicken Loans where he led Marketing Operations until
joining Rockbridge Growth Equity, a Detroit-based private equity firm in
2011. In 2013, Matt rejoined the Quicken Loans Marketing Team to lead the company’s growing
social media team.
MICHAEL GRANT
Motivational Speaker
Michael Grant is currently the President of the
National Bankers Association. He is a motivational
speaker and founder of G & C Motivational
Consultants where he delivered diversity
consulting services for some of the nation’s top
corporations. Clients such as: Ritz-Carlton Hotels,
McDonald's Corporation, Cracker Barrel, Four
Seasons, Dollar General, Shoney's & Captain D's,
Holiday Inn, Marriott, Cendal Corporation, Avlon Industries, Starwood Hotels
(Westin), and many more.
He is a former radio host and the former president of the NAACP Nashville, TN
branch. He is also the former president of the Mount Juliet Broadcasting Company
and the author of two books, Beyond Blame (1994) and Your Marvelous Mind
(2000).
Michael has appeared as a guest on Tony Brown's Journal and CSPAN TV.
MIKE DUGGAN
Mayor of Detroit
Mike Duggan was elected as Mayor of Detroit on November 5, 2013 and
took office on January 1, 2014. As Mayor, he governs the city of his
birth and where he spent the previous 32 years of his career
collaborating with others to solve some of the city’s most vexing issues.
While Mayor Duggan was elected largely on his track record of leading
successful large-scale financial and operational turnarounds, Detroiters
responded strongly to his deep love for the city, which can be seen in
his work over the years. During his career he has taken on challenges
and untangled problems that directly impact the quality of life of
Detroiters, including access to health care, public transportation, crime, blight, expanding recreational
opportunities in the city, job creation and more.
His immediate priority as Mayor has been to implement a coordinated strategy to address the numerous
challenges residents have faced over the years, most notably, blight, public lighting, transportation and
public safety.
During his first year in office, the city has made significant progress in each of these areas, although he is the
first to admit that much work remains. Thanks to new partnerships with Detroit City Council, as well as in
Lansing and Washington, D.C., the city now is removing blight at a record pace, has installed more than
35,000 new LED streetlights, secured the purchase of 80 new DDOT buses through federal funds and
significantly reduced both police and EMS response times.
Duggan and his wife, Lori, are the proud parents of four adult children, Mary, Eddie, Carolyn and Patrick.
Milt Sharp, Jr.
President
eHome America
Milt Sharp, Jr., serves as president of eHome America, a national on-line
homebuyer pre-purchase education program. In 2009, recognizing that
place-based education difficult and costly in an electronic information
society, eHome America created a homebuyer education course that
couples on-line and in-person housing counseling. eHome America’s
Network today includes 500+ member organizations counseling more than
200,000 families in all 50 states including Guam, Virgin Islands and Puerto
Rico. Mr. Sharp is responsible for all aspects of this program, which
today includes supplemental courses in financial literacy, foreclosure
education and a soon to be released client management system.
Mr. Sharp has more than 20 years’ experience as a neighborhood
revitalization professional, and previously served as senior
homeownership specialist with NeighborWorks America in its Washington, D.C. headquarters.
His primary duties included serving as the national homeownership center coordinator for the
organization’s national network of NeighborWorks HomeOwnership Centers, with a focus on
assisting the centers in building capacity in service delivery, marketing and design,
homeownership promotion, homeownership preservation, partnership development and program
sustainability.
Prior to working with NeighborWorks America, Mr. Sharp was vice president of financial selfreliance programs for Isles, Inc., in Trenton, N.J. His primary duties included managing a
comprehensive homebuyer education and counseling program and financial literacy education
for youth and adults.
NANCY BOCSKOR
Principal
Nancy Bocskor Company
Nancy Bocskor, tagged a “Democracy Coach” by a major German
newspaper, teaches citizens in the United States and internationally
how to communicate with passion to affect change in their
communities.
Nancy Bocskor founded the Nancy Bocskor Company in 1990. She has
raised money for more than 100 Members of Congress and candidates
and has trained activists and leaders in all 50 states and more than
20 countries. Her areas of expertise include presentation skills,
speech coaching, fundraising, grassroots advocacy and women’s
leadership training.
The author of “Go Fish: How to Catch (and Keep) Contributors: A Practical Guide to Fundraising,”
Nancy is also a professor at George Washington University’s Graduate School of Political
Management where she teaches both online and classroom fundraising courses.
Nancy is on the board for Running Start, an organization that encourages young women to run for
office and serves on the advisory board for the Center for Second Service, a program that trains
veterans for public service. She also served on the board of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale
for seven years, where she chaired the school’s Curriculum Committee for five years.
Most recently, she was selected by the Washington Academy of Political Arts & Sciences as one of
the “Top 12 Women Changing the Face of Political Communications in Latin America.”
A graduate of Otterbein College in Westerville, Ohio, Nancy received the 2010 the Distinguished
Alumni Award for “her passion to affect change in national and international communities, training
and consulting with the nations and world's political leaders, and commitment to educate others,
particularly women, around the world.”
Nancy Bocskor spreads democracy throughout the world…..the lively American travels from one
country to the next coaching candidates on how to win elections, especially encouraging women to
make it into parliament. *Translated from Die Welt, 11/07
www.NancyBocskor.com
PHILLIP BRACKEN
Chairman and Founder
America’s Homeowners Alliance
Chief Policy Officer
Head of Government & Industry Relations
Radian Guaranty Inc.
Phil Bracken is Chairman and Founder of the America’s Homeowner
Alliance – the advocacy and member rewards alliance for the 75 million
existing (and future aspiring) Homeowners of America.
He is also Chief Policy Officer and Head of Government & Industry
Relations for Radian Guaranty Mortgage Insurance, the largest private
mortgage insurance company in the U.S.
In addition, for the past 9 years, Mr. Bracken has been Co-Chairman of
the Consumer / Lender Roundtable in Washington, DC and President of
the Housing Renaissance.
He was formerly Executive Vice President and Head of Government & Industry Relations of Wells
Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) for 15 years.
In 2008, Bracken was awarded the “lifetime achievement award” – The Eagle Award - by the
National Association of Real Estate Brokers. In 2009, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) of
America awarded Bracken their “lifetime achievement award” – the Andrew D. Woodward
Distinguished Service Award. The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals
(NAHREP) also recognized Bracken in November 2009 with their “lifetime achievement award” –
The NAHREP Founders Award.
He was the architect of the Housing Policy Council of the Financial Services Roundtable in
Washington, DC and initiated the Hurricane Katrina Relief Coalition in Washington, DC.
Bracken earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and management from Eastern Illinois University
and played professional baseball before his career in housing finance.
SERHAT OZTOP
Executive Director and Affordable Lending Executive
Chase
Serhat Oztop is Executive Director and Affordable Lending executive at
Chase.
Serhat manages Affordable Lending across Retail, Consumer Direct and
Correspondent channels and is responsible for Chase’s value proposition,
sales and fulfillment model as well as marketing and outreach efforts for
low-to-moderate income and minority communities.
Serhat joined JPMorgan Chase in 2014 and initially led Pricing and Finance teams for consumer
channels in Mortgage. Prior to Chase, he worked at McKinsey & Co. and served large financial
institutions on topics including growth strategy, business model re-design, processing reengineering and regulatory remediation.
Serhat holds a bachelor’s degree from Bogazici University and an MBA from Harvard Business
School.
Steve James
Senior Vice President – Strategy, Insights and Marketing
Fannie Mae
Steve James is Fannie Mae’s Senior Vice President – Strategy, Insights, and
Marketing. Reporting to the Executive Vice President – Single-Family
Mortgage Business, James drives the Single-Family business and marketing
strategy for lenders, servicers, and other industry stakeholders. In this role,
he is responsible for establishing customer-focused marketing objectives,
consolidating and analyzing market research, and developing market plans.
Experience: Prior to joining Fannie Mae in May 2016, James was Senior Vice
President – Marketing at TIAA, where he led advertising, brand strategy, and consumer
marketing. Before that, he was Managing Vice President – Consumer Bank Marketing at Capital
One. His team was responsible for advertising campaign work, customer management, brand
conversions, and marketing strategy for the consumer bank. Earlier in his career, he held
marketing and strategy roles at Toyota and Lexus.
Education: James has a bachelor of science in marketing management from Virginia Tech and a
master of business administration – with a concentration in marketing and finance – from the
Indiana University Kelley School of Business.
STEVE O’CONNOR
Senior Vice President
Public Policy and Industry Relations
Mortgage Bankers Association
Steve O'Connor is Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Industry
Relations at the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). He manages MBA's
residential policy process for legislative, regulatory, and industry
issues. O'Connor directs MBA's regulatory advocacy efforts. He is also
responsible for outreach to industry groups, consumer organizations, and
other key stakeholders. O'Connor is a regular guest speaker on industry
issues.
O'Connor leads MBA's Consumer Affairs Advisory Council. He also serves on a number of industry
boards, including the National Housing Conference, the National Association of Hispanic Real
Estate Professionals, HOPE LoanPort, and Freddie Mac's Affordable Housing Advisory Council.
O'Connor joined MBA in 1996. Previously, he worked in government affairs for the National
Association of Realtors and Freddie Mac. He also worked for Skyline Financial Services
Corporation.
O'Connor holds a Bachelor's degree in political science from Marquette University and a Master's
degree in political science from American University.
TERRY WATSON
Author, Facilitator and Motivational Speaker
Easify, Inc.
Terry Watson is the “AHA guy”, who makes people, companies and
organizations large and small aware of the conscious and unconscious
ways they sabotage their businesses and their lives. Terry provides
ridiculously effective and easily implementable strategies. In short,
Terry gives your organization the tools your people need to get out of
their own way while making them laugh till they snort in the process.
Terry is also a CSP, Certified Speaking Professional. The CSP is the
speaking profession’s International measure of speaking experience and
skill, earned from the National Speakers Association. This is a really big deal since there are less
than 600 speakers with the CSP designation in the universe. Fewer than 10 percent of the
speakers who belong to the Global Speakers Federation (GSF) hold this professional designation.
What this means is that your event is definitely not his first rodeo. You are working with a
seasoned pro who speaks a lot. If your attendees aren’t often overheard in the halls saying, “ I
can’t believe I didn’t know that” or “I haven’t laughed this hard in years” or “I am so glad I was
here”, Terry was not your speaker.
TOSHA TABRON
Vice President, Relationship Manager
JPMorgan Chase Foundation
Tosha Tabron is a Relationship Manager for Global Philanthropy at
JPMorgan Chase & Co., responsible for leading the firm's philanthropy
mission in Michigan across the firm's priority areas: affordable
housing, financial capability, economic growth and workforce
readiness. JPMorgan Chase and its corporate foundation invest more
than $200 million in donations in communities across the globe.
She joined JPMorgan Chase from the Bank of America Charitable
Foundation, where her grant-making focused on preserving
neighborhoods, educating the workforce for 21st century jobs and
addressing critical needs such as hunger. She worked for Bank of
America through its predecessor companies, in different capacities
for 14 years, including serving as a client manager in Commercial Banking and for LaSalle's
Community Development Corporation underwriting program related investments.
Mrs. Tabron serves on the board of directors of the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation, Great
Lakes Women's Business Council (formerly CEED), Community Development Advocates of Detroit
(CDAD), Bank On Detroit, and is a member of The Detroit Regional Workforce Fund steering
committee. Mrs. Tabron holds a Masters in Urban Planning focused in Housing and Community
Development from Wayne State University and a B.A. in Finance from Grand Valley State
University's Seidman School of Business.
Mrs. Tabron graduated from the Detroit Regional Chamber's 35th Leadership Detroit class. She
received the Michigan Chronicle Women of Excellence Award in 2010 and was named a Michigan
Chronicle 40 under 40 African American Leader in 2014.
She resides in Detroit with her husband, Donald Tabron and their two sons.