TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
Issue link: http://digital.themreport.com/i/1484258
M R EP O RT | 15 MCROWD JOHN HAMM Stewart Information Services Corporation has named John Hamm as its new CIO for its global technology opera- tions, overseeing and leading the company's technology development and strategy. Current CIO Brad Rable has been promoted to President, Technology and Operations. "Stewart is a well-known company with a respected brand, and in speak- ing with Stewart's executive leadership team, I came to realize there is support and buy-in from the top when it comes to how innovation and technology tie into the vision of becoming the Premier Title Services Company," Hamm said. "My goal is to build a lead- ing IT department that will enable the employees of Stewart to achieve this vision. Stewart is in the right position to make smart investments and bring new tools and data insights that will differentiate itself in the market." Prior to joining Stewart, Hamm served as VP of Information Technology at Texas Children's Hospital where he led the transforma- tion of their patient digital experience. He was responsible for overall stra- tegic vision, maturity, and operations of the electronic health record (EHR), electronic resource planning (ERP), and enterprise integration of more than three hundred critical applica- tions. Hamm has more than 25 years of experience leading IT transformation along with merger and acquisition experience at global Fortune 500 and enterprise nonprofit organizations. "From the beginning, ease-of-use for our customers and clients has been the goal," said Fred Eppinger, Stewart CEO. "Privacy and security will always be at the forefront of our digitization strategy as we design products and services to make it easier for them to use. John's leader- ship will be key to developing and executing our technology offerings as Stewart continues to lead and evolve the real estate market." NEENU KAINTH Enact Holdings, a provider of private mortgage insurance through its insurance subsidiaries, has named Neenu Kainth as the company's new Chief Customer Experience Officer. Kainth has more than 20 years of industry experience, leading product management and development in Fortune 100 companies, most recently, as EVP/Chief Digital Officer at Newrez. Prior to that, Kainth served as Chief Digital Officer at Mr. Cooper. "Neenu is an industry veteran and brings with her a wealth of knowl- edge, experience, leadership, and a proven track record of success," said Rohit Gupta, President & CEO at Enact. "I believe that Neenu will be a great addition to the Enact team, and her level of expertise will prove invaluable to our company and within our industry." Throughout her career, Kainth has been instrumental in strengthening rev- enues, leading digital transformation, successfully overseeing large, global teams, and driving customer experi- ence at companies such as Newrez, Mr. Cooper, Verizon, and more. Kainth received a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in computer science from Arizona State University, as well as an Executive MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. DEAN KLINGER Blend Labs, Inc., a provider of cloud banking software, has named tech industry veteran Dean Klinger as its new Head of Revenue. Klinger recently served as SVP of Sales, Major Accounts at Snowflake, Inc., a provider of cloud-based data warehousing and analytics. Reporting to Head of Blend Nima Ghamsari, Klinger will oversee Blend's end-to-end customer journey. Klinger brings 25-plus years of sales and lead- ership experience in the enterprise software space to Blend. He spent 12 of those years in various senior lead- ership roles in the SaaS cloud space selling highly technical solutions to enterprise customers. Prior to Snowflake, Klinger held several senior leadership positions at ServiceNow, Inc., including serving as VP of Major Sales, West. "We are thrilled to welcome Dean to Blend. He brings extensive experi- ence at leading software companies like Snowflake and ServiceNow, helping them rapidly scale to the companies they are today," Ghamsari said. "Blend continues to grow and capture market share in mortgages while gaining traction in our con- sumer banking and marketplace busi- ness, and I know Dean will help propel our vision forward as a leading cloud banking software provider." Klinger has previously held enter- prise sales leadership roles at leading technology companies including Data Domain, EMC, and Cisco Systems. "I couldn't be more excited to join Blend," Klinger said. "What Nima and team have created is, simply put, the future of banking. Having an auto- mated platform that takes friction and manual process out of our bank- ing needs is not only essential, but expected in our already fast paced, digital world." ROB STRICKLAND CHRIS PORNARAS VeriFast, an AI- powered Verification- as-a-Service platform that automates financial analysis and decision making for tenant screening, mortgage underwrit- ing and business lending, has appoint- ed fintech veteran Rob Strickland, CRO and Canadian banking veteran Chris Pornaras, Chief Commercial Officer to its leadership team. "VeriFast's solution adoption within the U.S. and Canadian mortgage mar- kets has greatly increased over the past year," VeriFast Co-Founder and COO Chad Guziewicz said. "We have seen an explosive demand for our holistic verification platform. Adding industry experts with enterprise go- to-market skills takes us to the next level for continued growth." Strickland joins VeriFast from Brimma, a mortgage tech provider specializing in delivering modern technology integration and innova- tion. Prior to that, he held execu- tive positions at Capco, Blue Sage Solutions, and IBM. Pornaras has more than 30 years of experience working in Canadian financial ser- vices, and has led Canada's largest mortgage origination utilities, as well as having worked with several start- up companies to develop long term success strategies. "Rob's track record in growing businesses and delivering market strategies, and Chris' demonstrated history in financial services will be instrumental as we move forward," Guziewicz added. "Both quickly ac- celerated VeriFast's adoption with mortgage lenders to digitize and streamline their pre-approval and underwriting processes, shaving labor costs and compressing approval cycles by up to 90%." LILLY STANIFORTH Mortgage fintech MonitorBase has promoted Lilly Staniforth to VP of Business Relations, a role where she will focus on improving the company's brand awareness and value proposition and building stronger client relationships. Staniforth joined MonitorBase in 2019 as Client Success Manager, where she managed client relationships and developed integrations between MonitorBase and its clients' systems. "Lilly always thinks in terms of value to the client first, so she was the perfect fit for this new role," MonitorBase CEO Louis Zitting said. "Our banking, mortgage lender, and broker clients love Lilly because she genuinely cares about them, and her personal skills and integrity are un- matched. I am confident she will con- tinue impressing our clients and play an instrumental role in our growth." In addition to her other duties, Staniforth will be responsible for help- ing clients reach their business and personal goals by seizing new sales opportunities and building lasting relationships with borrowers. She will also be responsible for creating aware- ness around MonitorBase's integration capabilities, developing publicity and marketing content, creating new busi- ness partnerships, and strategizing with clients during market shifts. "I'm honored and thrilled to take on this new challenge," Staniforth said. "At MonitorBase, our goal is to pro- vide an unbeatable value to loan origi- nators and mortgage lenders. I look forward to creating stronger, more productive relationships with our clients and their systems that result in a better overall consumer experience. I'm equally excited about the growth that lies ahead for our company." know someone moving up in the industry? email us at Editor@theMReport.com.