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M R EP O RT | 7 ALLYSON FOLEY JEFF LEINAN Plaza Home Mortgage has announced changes to its Wholesale Lending team, as Jeff Leinan, former EVP of National Wholesale Production, will assume the newly created role of President of Wholesale Production, and Allyson Foley has joined the team as EVP, Wholesale Operations. Leinan will be responsible for all aspects of Plaza's origination, underwriting, and production for the Wholesale Lending Division. He has been with Plaza for nearly 14 years, having joined the company in 2008 as a Divisional Executive and was promoted to EVP in 2018. In her new role, Foley will align the company's regional wholesale operations into a more unified ap- proach. She comes to Plaza from Stearns Lending, where she served as EVP of Operations, responsible for operations and underwriting for the company's wholesale platform. "Plaza's Wholesale channel con- tinues to distinguish itself among its peers by delivering the best value to our brokers and their borrowers. This is a direct result of our technol- ogy, scale, customer-first focus, and our leadership within the channel," Plaza Home Mortgage Chairman and CEO Kevin Parra said. "I'm confident that Jeff, Allyson and their teams will continue to drive success in 2022 and beyond." STEPHANIE MCKIM Mortgage Network Inc. has announced that Stephanie McKim has joined the company's Laconia, New Hampshire office as a Loan Officer. "Inventory is at a 23-year low, infla- tion is rising, and even though interest rates are still relatively low, they are rising as well," McKim said. "Knowing that we are in one of the most com- petitive markets ever, homebuyers need to take a deep breath and find a trusted loan officer and Realtor to work with. Having the right team on your side is more important than ever." Prior to joining Mortgage Network, McKim worked as a Realtor in the Laconia area. She graduated from Belmont High School and earned a degree in paralegal studies from New Hampshire Technical Institute. She later earned her bachelor's degree in business administration from Southern New Hampshire University with a concentration in organizational leadership. "Stephanie is a fantastic addi- tion to our team," Laconia Branch Manager Jane F. Jordan, CMP said. "After spending years as a success- ful Realtor, she brings many strong industry connections throughout the area to her new role. I have no doubt she'll provide homebuyers with unparalleled assistance to success- fully navigate today's complicated market." SHAWN O'BRIEN PAUL SAURBIER Spring EQ has appointed two to its wholesale lending team, as Paul Saurbier has been promoted to SVP of the Wholesale Lending Division, and Shawn O'Brien has joined the company as VP of Sales for Wholesale Lending. Saurbier joined Spring EQ in 2019 as VP of Sales, where he co-created a new Wholesale Division. In his new role as SVP of Wholesale Lending, he will be responsible for the Division's overall results and profit- ability. Saurbier has more than 30 years of experience in the mortgage business and has held leadership positions with several companies, including Quicken Loans, HSBC, IndyMac Bank, Key Bank, and GE Capital. O'Brien brings nearly 30 years of industry experience to his new role of VP of Sales for Spring EQ's Wholesale Lending Group, where he will man- age the sales team and partnership relationships. Most recently, O'Brien served as divisional vice president for Quicken Loans where he spent more than a decade of his career. Prior to this, he held roles at HSBC and vari- ous mortgage banking firms. "As the market prepares for rising mortgage rates, we are thrilled to have Paul and Shawn—both highly- qualified and seasoned professionals with decades of experience—leading our wholesale team through a busy and successful year ahead," said Jerry Schiano, CEO of Spring EQ. "They will both play a critical role in enabling Spring EQ to help borrowers reach their financial goals and meet their expanding home equity needs in 2022." JASON RUDMAN Finance of America Companies has named Jason Rudman as the company's new Chief Customer Officer, where he will oversee one of Finance of America's long-term strategic initiatives focused on further enhancing the customer experience across its entire ecosys- tem. In this new role, he will focus on identifying more personalized and impactful customer touchpoints designed to help meet customers' diverse financing needs at various stages in life. Rudman joins the company's executive team and reports directly to CEO Patricia Cook. "I am thrilled to join Finance of America as we focus on prioritizing people over products and experienc- es over transactions with a business model that aims to be refresh- ingly different in serving the needs of customers in the lending arena," Rudman said. "I look forward to play- ing a role in the company's ongoing commitment to build trust and create enduring lifelong relationships with its customers while empowering lasting financial progress through personal- ized, omnichannel experiences." Prior to joining Finance of America, Rudman was General Manager, Head of Deposits and Retail Payments for USAA. Previously, he held various po- sitions with KeyBank, most recently serving as EVP, Head of Consumer Payments and Digital, overseeing the strategy and business growth for KeyBank's consumer digital experience and payments products. Before that, Rudman spent 13 years with American Express, where he held various roles with increasing responsibility, focused on digital UX, product development, customer acquisition, customer engagement, and product management before ultimately leading the growth of the U.S. prepaid business. Among his primary responsibili- ties, Rudman will seek to enhance the customer engagement ecosystem by developing and implementing a unified vision that aligns Finance of America's sales, operations, and sup- port functions to optimize the value of its customer relationships, acceler- ate digital transformation, and deliver a best-in class customer experience. ZEENAT SIDI loanDepot Founder and LDI Chairman and CEO Anthony Hsieh has unveiled a new company operating unit—mello—to be led by newly appointed President and COO Zeenat Sidi, a fintech veteran with significant P&L leadership, digital transformation, risk management, operations, and strategy experience. Sidi has more than 25 years in the industry, including senior leadership roles at firms such as SoFi, Capital One, and RBC. The new mello operating unit will complement the company's existing loanDepot mortgage and servicing operations platform. With the forma- tion of mello, loanDepot will shift specific proprietary, competitive-ad- vantage assets into the mello division and under Sidi's leadership, including oversight of the company's customer contact center, mello DataMart and performance marketing engine, designed to cultivate, ingest, and distribute more than 10 million data- enriched leads annually. Under Sidi's leadership, the mello business unit will develop digital- first secured and unsecured lending products leveraging loanDepot's cus- tomer engagement channels, market- ing assets, and technology stack. The mello business unit will also house the company's mortgage adjacent businesses, such as mellohome Real Estate Services, melloinsurance, and mello title and escrow services. Prior to mello, Sidi joined SoFi in 2018 to build and lead the com- pany's home loans business, before assuming the role of EVP and Group Business Head of Lending. She joined Galileo Financial Technologies (a company SoFi acquired in 2020) as Head of Enterprise Lending and Data to build the strategic assets to offer a suite of financial services products to Galileo's clients through a modern API-based payments plat- form. Previously, Sidi held significant leadership roles with Capital One, including GM of the digital Home Equity business, and with RBC in the U.S. and Canada. "Zeenat is a high-caliber leader MCROWD