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TH E M R EP O RT | 29 Karen Bellezza Karen Bellezza Chief Administrative Officer // Selene Finance Karen Bellezza serves as the Chief Administrative Officer at Selene Finance. In this role, she is responsible for Corporate Governance, which oversees the legal, compliance, and risk management functions as well as Government Programs Oversight. In addition, she is Chairperson of the Risk Management Committee, which is responsible for identifying, evaluating, and mitigating any risks to Selene's business objectives. Bellezza has helped grow Selene from a captive servicer to a special servicer for nonaffiliates. As a founding employee of Selene Finance, Bellezza said she was faced with the daunting challenge of getting the company up and running. However, this experience turned out to be the most rewarding challenge of her career. "We started with 28 employees and no loans to service for about eight months—and we are now an industry-leading special servicer, celebrating our 10-year anniversary," she said. Prior to joining Selene in 2007, Bellezza served as SVP, Managing Director for Capmark Finance Inc., formerly GMAC Commercial Mortgage, where she was responsible for all offshore activities including European and Indian operations, operational training and development, and all technology initiatives, process improvements, and data management and provisioning for the Global Servicing Division. Bellezza's extensive experience in the mortgage industry is due to having held a variety of leadership roles during her tenure at GMAC Mortgage that included oversight of the company's REO disposition group, foreclosure, and bankruptcy units, as well as serving as Capital Markets Operations Head and Strategic Sourcing Division Head. Prior to joining GMAC Mortgage in 1985, Bellezza served at Manufacturers Hanover Financial Services and Evans Financial, where she oversaw collection, foreclosure, and REO disposition activities. "I've been fortunate to work with many talented people, both male and female, and learned important lessons from each of them. At each stage in my career, I've received sage advice and helpful guidance, and I'm thankful for all it. I'm also proud to have been influenced by my grandmother, and inherited some of her admirable qualities," she said. As for diversity and inclusion in the industry, Bellezza believes women have excellent opportunities. Despite the general notion that the finance industry tends to have a reputation as being majority male, she said that those "on the inside" have seen the shift toward diversity. "As an industry, we need to continue to celebrate our women leaders to ensure that reputation continues to fade. At Selene, we have several exceptional female leaders and our staff and clients respect them—not because they are female, but because they are experts at what they do. Continuing to break down gender stereotypes will, over time, erase any inaccurate perceptions," Bellezza said. With a modern sense of openness to new ideas and perspectives, Bellezza trusts the industry will continue to evolve, advance, and improve.