Walter F. Mondale’s record of public service includes Vice President of the United States, U.S. Ambassador to Japan, U.S. Senator, and Attorney General for the State of Minnesota.  He was also the Democratic Party’s nominee for President in 1984.  He recently retired from the law firm of Dorsey & Whitney LLP, headquartered in Minneapolis with 20 offices worldwide.

Walter Frederick (“Fritz”) Mondale was born in Ceylon, Minnesota on January 5, 1928, the son of Theodore Sigvaard Mondale and Claribel Cowan Mondale.  He spent his boyhood in the small towns of southern Minnesota, where he attended public schools.  After he helped manage Hubert H. Humphrey’s first successful U.S. Senate campaign in 1948, he earned his B.A. in political science from the University of Minnesota in 1951.  After completing service as a corporal in the U.S. Army, Mondale received his LL.B. (cum laude) from the University of Minnesota Law School in 1956, having served on the law review and as a law clerk in the Minnesota Supreme Court.

Mondale practiced law for the next four years in Minneapolis.  In 1960, Minnesota Governor Orville Freeman appointed him to the position of State Attorney General.  Mondale was then elected to the office in 1962, and served until 1964, when Governor Karl Rolvaag asked him to fill the U.S. Senate vacancy created by Hubert Humphrey’s election to the Vice Presidency.  The voters of Minnesota returned Mondale to the Senate in 1966 and 1972.

During his 12 years as a Senator, Mondale served on the Finance Committee, the Labor and Public Welfare Committee, Budget Committee, and the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.  He also served as the chairman of the Select Committee on Equal Education Opportunity and as the chairman of the Intelligence Committee’s Domestic Task Force.

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale were elected President and Vice President of the United States on November 2, 1976.  On the President’s behalf, Mondale traveled extensively throughout the country and the world advocating U.S. policy.  He played a central role in Carter Administration policy of expanding commercial ties between the United States and China.  He was the first Vice President to have an office in the White House, and he served as a full-time participant, advisor, and troubleshooter for the Administration.  During this period, Joan Mondale served as a national advocate for the arts and was Honorary Chairman of the Federal Council on the Arts and Humanities.

In 1984, Mondale was the Democratic Party’s nominee for President of the United States.  Following that election, Mondale practiced law, taught, studied, traveled, and served as a director of both non-profit and corporate boards.  He returned to his native Minnesota in 1987, where he practiced law with the firm of Dorsey & Whitney until President Clinton nominated him to be the U.S. Ambassador to Japan.

Mondale served as Ambassador to Japan from August 13, 1993, to December 15, 1996.  During that period, he helped to negotiate several U.S.-Japan security agreements, including a resolution to the controversy about the U.S. military presence in Okinawa.  He also helped to negotiate numerous trade agreements between the United States and Japan, and he promoted the expansion of educational exchanges between the two nations.  In addition, Mondale attended the annual APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit meetings in Seattle, Jakarta, Osaka, and Manila.

Since returning from Japan, Mondale has become a director of several non-profit and corporate boards.  He is the chair of The Maureen and Mike Mansfield Foundation.  He also co-teaches a class at the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota on the study of governance and politics.

In March 1998, serving as President Clinton’s special envoy, Mondale traveled to Indonesia to meet with President Suharto regarding the Asian financial crisis and economic reforms in Indonesia.

Before his appointment as U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Walter Mondale was a Distinguished University Fellow in Law and Public Affairs at the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota.  In 1990, he established the Mondale Policy Forum at the Humphrey Institute to bring together leading scholars and policymakers for conferences on domestic and international issues.

From 1986 until his appointment as Ambassador, Mondale served as chairman of the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, a Washington, DC-based organization that conducts non-partisan international programs to help maintain and strengthen democratic institutions.

Mondale was married to the former Joan Adams for 58 years before she passed away in February 2014.  They have three children, Theodore, Eleanor Jane (deceased) and William.  They also have four grandchildren.

Mondale has authored two books The Accountability of Power:  Toward a Responsible Presidency and The Good Fight:  A Life in Liberal Politics and has written numerous articles on domestic and international issues.  In his free time, he enjoys fishing, reading historical accounts, and spending time with his family.

Gale King is Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Nationwide, where she leads the enterprise Human Resources, Corporate Real Estate, Corporate Security and Aviation departments. She was named to this position in 2012, after having served in various senior leadership positions including Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (2009-2012); Senior Vice President for Property and Casualty Human Resources (2003-2009); and as Administrative Officer in the Office of the President, Property and Casualty; among other senior executive positions.

In this role, Gale is responsible for developing the strategies that focus on recruiting, retaining and engaging the more than 33,000 diverse and talented associates who help the company deliver on its promise to protect what matters most to their members. She and her team also have responsibility for ensuring the company continues to build on and carry forward the unique culture that makes Nationwide an award winning great place to work. This includes the development of the HR strategy, talent acquisition, compensation and benefits, associate and leadership development, succession management, organizational effectiveness and diversity and inclusion. Additionally she and her team have responsibility for the company’s aviation department, nationally recognized corporate security department, as well as a real estate portfolio that provides innovative real estate environments in more than 200 facilities across the country.

Gale is a results-driven leader, an engaging and motivating business executive and a dedicated associate advocate. She is active in the community locally and nationally and currently serves on the board of directors for the National Urban League, the University of Florida Foundation, the Columbus Museum of Art, and the Executive Leadership Council. She also understands the importance of philanthropy and is an education advocate. Believing that education changes lives, she has endowed the King Excellence fund at the University of Florida and scholarships at Santa Fe Community College in memory or her late mother and grandmother.

Gale holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s degree in public administration from the University of Florida.

Since joining Citi in 1996, Ms. Abatemarco has served in various roles within Citi Community Development.

Ms. Abatemarco manages Citi’s efforts to strengthen existing and new strategic community initiatives with nonprofits and consumer advocacy organizations.

She oversees Citi’s National Initiatives, Citi Inclusive Finance in the U.S and Communications for all of Citi Community Development, whose mission is to respond to the needs of the business and the communities in which Citi operates by charting diverse partnerships that develop innovative and sustainable solutions in support of economic development, financial capability, and financial inclusion with a primary focus on low-and-moderate income individuals, communities of color, and diverse populations.

In 2007, she also assumed responsibility for Citi’s Office of Homeownership Preservation and is responsible for loss mitigation and borrower outreach efforts to help Citi borrowers maintain home ownership and to support neighborhood stabilization through the responsible disposition of Citi’s foreclosed properties. Through these efforts more than 1.1 million distressed borrowers have been helped to avoid potential foreclosure.

Other responsibilities include working closely with the Citi Foundation to recommend national grants that provide impact for underserved communities.

In 2011, Ms. Abatemarco assumed responsibility for Citi Salutes an initiative that highlights our commitment to veterans and their families, as well as those currently serving in the armed forces, providing career opportunities, employee engagement and programs to improve the lives of those who have served.

She also serves as a member of Citi’s North America Consumer Bank Business and Industry Practices Committee.

Ms. Abatemarco is Citi’s representation and a founding member of the Asset Building Policy Network (ABPN), a coalition of civil rights, community development and policy organizations, including a financial institution, committed to the following core goals: coordinating savings and asset building policy and advocacy efforts at a national level, developing a shared communications agenda and strategy, and building the capacity of Network members and their networks to improve the opportunity for economic progress for low‐income individuals and families and in communities of color by increasing local access to responsible and appropriate financial products and services.

Prior to joining Citi, Ms. Abatemarco was the executive director and co-founder of a management consulting organization that provides assistance and training in all areas of fundraising and organizational development. Ms. Abatemarco serves on the Board of Directors of the Long Island Community Foundation and Woodstock Institute, and the Bankers and Community Council of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition.

Anita Shafer Aaron is Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability, an international disability policy development and training institute committed to economic and social inclusion of people with disabilities co-founded in 1983 by Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann and Joan Leon.  Prior to joining WID in 2010, Aaron served for twenty years as CEO of the LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired headquartered in San Francisco focusing on local, regional and national policy and program concerns impacting individuals who are blind, visually impaired and/or deaf-blind.  Aaron began her disability rights leadership career in 1981 as Deputy Director of the Berkeley Center for Independent Living and was one of WID’s pioneering staff members in 1983-86.

Aaron has a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a master’s in public administration and certificates in facilitative mediation and nonprofit management.

Gary Acosta is the co-founder and CEO of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP). NAHREP is the largest member based Hispanic business organization in America. He is also a partner of the Mortgage Collaborative and was a founding member of the Consumer Advisory Board of the CFPB.

Phil Bracken is Managing Director of VantageScore Solutions. He has responsibility for the Mortgage Marketplace and Government & Industry Relations with the primary responsibility of advancing VantageScore in the mortgage industry.

He was previously 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, Mr. Bracken is Chairman and Founder of the America’s Homeowner Alliance – the advocacy and member benefits alliance for the 75 million existing (and future aspiring) Homeowners of America.

For the past 10 years, Mr. Bracken has been Co-Chairman of the Consumer / Lender Roundtable in Washington, DC and President of the Housing Renaissance. He also has served more than 15 years on the Advisory Board (MFCC) of the NCRC.

He was formerly Executive Vice President and Head of Government & Industry Relations of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage (WFHM) for 15 years and prior to that was Managing Director of Prudential Home Mortgage.

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. And in October, 2015, he received the “lifetime achievement award” – The Trailblazer Award from the National Bankers Association.

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.

Barrett Burns is president and chief executive officer (CEO) of VantageScore Solutions,  LLC, an independently managed joint venture of the three national credit reporting companies, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion, and the company behind the VantageScore® consumer credit scoring model.  

He joined VantageScore as CEO during its formation in 2006 with more than three decades of leadership experience in the financial services sector.  Burns has held a diverse number of national and international leadership positions at several of the country’s most prestigious financial services companies.

Prior to joining VantageScore Solutions, he was executive vice president at U.S. Trust, heading the National Private Banking Group and a member of U.S. Trust’s Executive Committee and the Senior Management Team of parent company, The Charles Schwab Corporation.  

Previously, he served as executive vice president of global risk management and chairman of the Credit Policy Committee at Ford Motor Credit Company, where he was responsible for all aspects of risk management including credit, treasury and operations risk plus collections-related Six Sigma projects and was a member of the Executive Committee.

Burns also served as senior vice president and COO of Bank One’s auto finance division, the largest non-captive lender in the U.S. at the time. He held a dual role as senior vice president and  chief credit officer with Finance One Banking Group, the consumer and commercial finance unit of Bank One that was, at the time, the nation’s fifth-largest finance company.  Burns also spent more than a decade with Citibank, lastly as group credit officer for an international consumer banking division that included operations throughout the U.S. and Europe.

He serves as a board member for numerous industry associations including the Mortgage Bankers Association, the Structured Finance Industry Group Executive Committee, America’s Homeowner Alliance, the Corporate Board of Governors for the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals, and the Asian Real Estate Association of America’s National Advisory Council. Burns is a member of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition’s Mortgage Finance Collaborative Council and the Board of Regents of the Mercersburg Academy.  He currently serves on the Federal Reserve Board’s Community Advisory Council (CAC) and was previously a director of the Homeownership Preservation Foundation.  

Frequently asked to provide thought leadership on issues regarding consumer credit and risk, Burns testified before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions & Consumer Credit, in the United States House of Representatives, during a 2010 hearing entitled “Keeping Score on Credit Scores: An Overview of Credit Scores, Credit Reports and Their Impact on Consumers.”  He has also been quoted in numerous press articles and has written a variety of published op-eds during his tenure at VantageScore Solutions.

Burns received a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Washington and Jefferson College.

Henry Cisneros is Chairman of the CityView companies, which work with urban homebuilders to create homes priced within the range of average families. CityView is a partner in building more than 60 communities in 13 states, incorporating more than 7,000 homes with a home value of over $2 billion. Mr. Cisneros is the Chairman of the Executive Committee for Siebert, Cisneros, Shank, & Co., L.L.C a municipal finance firm and a top corporate underwriting firm in Wall Street.

Mr. Cisneros’ community-building career began at the local level. After serving three terms as a City Councilmember, in 1981, Mr. Cisneros became the first Hispanic-American mayor of a major U.S. city, San Antonio, Texas. During his four terms as Mayor, he helped rebuild the city’s economic base and spurred the creation of jobs through massive infrastructure and downtown improvements. In 1984, Mr. Cisneros was interviewed by the Democratic Presidential nominee as a possible candidate for Vice President of the United States and in 1986 was selected as the “Outstanding Mayor” in the nation by City and State Magazine.

After completing four terms as Mayor, Mr. Cisneros formed Cisneros Asset Management Company, a fixed income management firm operating nationally and ranked at the time as the second fastest growing money manager in the nation.

In 1992, President Clinton appointed Mr. Cisneros to be Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. As a member of President Clinton’s Cabinet, Secretary Cisneros was credited with initiating the revitalization of many of the nation’s public housing developments and with formulating policies which contributed to achieving the nation’s highest ever homeownership rate. In his role as the President’s chief representative to the
nation’s cities, Mr. Cisneros personally worked in more than 200 U.S. cities in every one of the 50 states.

After leaving HUD in 1997, Mr. Cisneros was president and chief operating officer of Univision Communications, the Spanish-language broadcaster which has become the fifth-most-watched television network in the nation. Mr. Cisneros currently serveson Univision’s Board of Directors.

Mr. Cisneros has served as President of the National League of Cities, as Deputy Chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, and is currently an officer of Habitat for Humanity International. Mr. Cisneros remains active in San Antonio’s leadership where he is former Chairman of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the San Antonio Economic Development Foundation, and BioMed SA. He is a former member of the advisory board of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Mr. Cisneros has been inducted into the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) “Builders Hall of Fame” and honored by the National Housing Conference as the “Housing Person of the Year.” Mr. Cisneros has also been author or editor of several books including: Interwoven Destinies: Cities and the Nation. His book project with former HUD Secretary Jack Kemp, Opportunity and Progress: A Bipartisan Platform for National Housing Policy, was presented the Common Purpose Award for demonstrating the potential of bipartisan cooperation and Casa y Comunidad: Latino Home and Neighborhood Design was awarded the Benjamin Franklin Silver Medal in the category of best business book of 2006.

Mr. Cisneros holds a Bachelor of Arts and a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from Texas A&M University. He earned a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University, studied urban economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, holds a Doctorate in Public Administration from George Washington University, and has been awarded more than 20 honorary doctorates from leading universities. He served as an infantry officer in the United States Army. Mr.Cisneros is married to Mary Alice P. Cisneros, who from 2007–2011 served on San Antonio’s City Council and they have three children – Teresa, Mercedes, and John Paul – and four grandchildren.

Former NFL player Wade Davis is a thought leader, writer, public speaker, and educator on gender, race, and orientation equality. While in the NFL, Davis played for the Tennessee Titans, the Washington Redskins, and the Seattle Seahawks, as well as for two different teams within the NFL Europe league.

In 2012, Davis “invited in” the rest of the world in an interview owning is his sexuality as a gay man.  Davis is now the NFL’s first LGBT inclusion consultant where he leads training sessions and national engagement initiatives, including the Hi-Five project, working to further create affirming space in sports for LGBT athletes. Numerous professional sports leagues including the NHL, CFL, and MLS rely on Davis to provide guidance on inclusion matters at the intersection of sexism and homophobia.

Most recently, Davis worked as the Special Advisor of Athlete Engagement at RISE, a non-profit organization started by Miami Dolphins owner, Stephen M. Ross. At RISE, Davis worked directly with leagues, athletes and teams to create strategic initiatives using sports as a vehicle to bring communities together around issues of social injustice.

Beyond Davis’ work in the sports world, he is currently a senior diversity and inclusion consultant at YSC, a global think tank and leadership-consulting firm. At YSC, Davis works with Fortune 500 corporations to co-create transformative solutions to link an organization’s diversity and inclusion goals to their people and commercial strategies.

Davis added actor and television consultant to his resume when he guest starred and consulted on American Crime, ABC’s critically acclaimed series from Oscar-winner John Ridley.

Davis is dedicated to using his platforms and social currency to highlight issues affecting those most marginalized including an intentional and specific focus on issues that directly impact women and girls.

In March of 2016, Davis gave his first TEDx Talk at the University of Florida, The Mask of Masculinity. As in his talk, Davis looks to continually engage men through multiple outlets and vehicles to become more self-reflective and divest themselves of patriarchal practices.

In partnership with the Ms. Foundation and Ebony Magazine, Davis launched the #BlackMenAndFeminism campaign, focusing on conversations with Black men around their perceptions and understanding of feminism. Davis helped launch the Ms. Foundation’s #MyFeminismIs campaign in the fall of 2015 with a series of videos, including one featuring a conversation on feminism with The Nation’s Mychal Denzel Smith.

Planned Parenthood’s PSA campaign #StandWithPP prominently features Davis speaking on the need to ensure that all women have access to safe, affordable, and quality healthcare. Davis continues to work with Planned Parenthood, recently interviewing President Cecile Richards at the Commonwealth Club and speaking at the organization’s global headquarters.

Additionally, Davis has worked with Huffington Post Women to film content centered on men as feminists and Mic.com on the #AthletesUnited campaign to bring attention to the issue of sexual assault. Davis has also spoken at the NCAA’s diversity conference to address the intersection of sexism and homophobia in sports, as well as next steps for inclusion and forward motion.

As an educator, Davis was an adjunct professor at the NYU School of Professional Studies Tisch Institute for Sports Management, Media, and Business and served as an adjunct professor at the Rutgers University School of Public Affairs and Administration. Davis has lectured on the intersections of race, sexuality, gender, and sports at universities nationally and internationally, and is the former assistant director of academic enrichment and work-readiness for the Hetrick-Martin Institute, where he taught at-promise LGBT youth how to define success.

Davis is a frequent guest on MSNBC, BBC, NPR, CNN, ESPN, and BET. His essays and writings have appeared in media outlets including the Los Angeles Times, the Advocate, Huffington Post, the New York Times, Ebony, the Guardian, and the White House Blog. Davis has spoken at and/or provided workshops and trainings at over 100 colleges, universities, and corporations nationally and internationally, including Stanford University, Penn State University, Syracuse University, Texas A&M University, Fox, Pepsi Co, JP Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, and Deutsche Bank.

Wade Davis was born in Little Rock, Arkansas and graduated from Weber State University in Ogden, Utah with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. In 2014 Davis received an honorary Doctor of Public Service degree from Northeastern University for his leadership and ongoing efforts to eradicate homophobia and sexism in athletics.

Wade Henderson is the former president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and The Leadership Conference Education Fund. As CEO since 1996, Wade led the nation’s social justice coalition in forging consensus and developing strategy on major policy priorities regarding civil and human rights. Under his guidance, The Leadership Conference steered successful campaigns to reauthorize the Voting Rights Act; pass the Help America Vote Act, the Fair Sentencing Act, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the ADA Amendments Act, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. During Wade’s tenure, the nation’s premier civil and human rights coalition has grown from 170 to more than 200 member organizations, including the first Muslim and Sikh civil rights groups. He has greatly expanded the footprint of domestic civil and human rights organizations in the global discourse on social justice.

Jeffrey Hicks is a native of Atlanta, GA. He is a Broker with Apollo Associates Realty where he started his real estate career in 1995. His concentration has been in the area of acquisitions, feasibility analysis, financial performance, asset management, and sale of real property.

Jeffrey’s primary goal as President of the National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB ®) is to continue the roll out of its Black Wealth through Home Ownership initiative – Two (2) Million New Black Homeowners by implementing an operational management system that supports the program and increases NAREB’s value through planning, structuring and organizational control. NAREB is intensely focused on implementing initiatives that identify economic solutions, rebuild communities, increase real estate values, and elevate the rate of Black homeownership.

He is an active member of Providence Missionary Baptist Church where he serves on the Trustee Board, Housing Ministry, and Environmental Stewardship committee.

Jeffrey is a graduate of Georgia State University with a degree in Marketing. He is married to Dr. Joya Hicks and they are the proud parents of two children, Jessica and James.  Jeffrey lives by the words, “Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts”. –Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Jimmy Kemp is President of the Jack Kemp Foundation, which he established in 2009.  Its mission is to develop, engage and recognize exceptional leaders who champion the American idea, beginning with the premise that the condition of your birth shouldn’t determine the outcome of your life. Mr. Kemp co-founded and is the Managing Partner of Kemp Partners, a strategic consulting firm based in Washington DC, and is the Executive Vice President of Group 47, a digital data storage company which is bringing to market a new archival media called DOTS (Digital Optical Technology System). He and his wife, Susan, have four boys and reside in Washington DC.

Jeffrey S. Markowitz is the Senior Vice President of External Relations and Corporate Communications. In that role, Mr. Markowitz oversees Congressional, State and Industry Relations, which includes the company’s work with trade groups representing homebuilders, realtors, lenders, and housing advocates. He also oversees Public Relations and Social Media, Marketing, Internal Communications, Market Research and the company’s web presence.

Prior to his current role, Mr. Markowitz served as Senior Director of Public Policy, where he focused on affordable housing and legislative and regulatory issues. He began his work at Freddie Mac in the Legal Division, where he worked on fair lending, affordable housing, and a variety of other legislative and regulatory issues.

Prior to joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Markowitz was a trial attorney at the United States Department of Justice, where he focused on constitutional law. He also worked in the Bureau of Consumer Protection at the Federal Trade Commission, where he brought the FTC’s first case for Internet fraud. Prior to that, he worked as a criminal and civil litigation associate at the Washington, D.C. law firm, Patton Boggs.

Mr. Markowitz is a graduate of the Yale Law School and holds a degree in Business Administration from Georgetown University. He lives in Arlington, Virginia with his wife, Susan Fox, and their four children.

Son Nguyen is the Founder and President of the Veterans Association of Real Estate Professionals (VAREP). Mr. Nguyen creates, implements, and overseas the programs within VAREP including working with government agencies and policy makers to create and reform veteran housing policy to remove barriers to homeownership.  He is frequently called upon as a subject matter expert by government agencies, the real estate industry, the lending industry, and real estate trade organizations to provide consultation on a variety of veteran housing issues. Mr. Nguyen has 19 plus years of experience in real estate, public speaking, supplier diversity, curriculum development, and non-profit management. His record speaks of innovation and leadership at the highest level.  Mr. Nguyen established VAREP as a housing non-profit for vets, by vets. He believes VAREP’s proactive stance–providing financial-literacy education and advocating homeownership–may not end the epidemic of homelessness among the veteran community, but can prevent it from happening in the future, one veteran at a time.  Mr. Nguyen served as a radioman aboard the USS Vincennes (GC-49) and USS Constellation (CV-64) in the U.S. Navy. He holds a Bachelor’s in Public Relations from of the University of Florida and a Master’s in Organizational Management.

Jim Park is the co-founder and CEO of the Mortgage Collaborative which works to make independent mortgage banks more competitive in the market.  The organization is made up of over 100 top lenders in United States with an annual origination volume of nearly $200 billion.  Additionally, Park was the 2013 Chair of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) and previously served as the association’s President and CEO from 2005 to 2011.  AREAA is a the largest Asian-based nonprofit membership organization in United States focused on expanding sustainable housing opportunities for Asian American and immigrant communities.  With more than 15,000 members in the US and Canada today, AREAA is working to better serve the dynamic Asian community in North America and around the globe.

Over the past twelve years, Park was the founder of several real estate as well as mortgage banking companies, including serving as a Co-CEO of New Vista Asset Management and Community Asset Solutions.  Previously, Park spent many years in Washington, DC and worked at Freddie Mac and FHA as well as worked on legislative issues impacting community development matters throughout the country. Over the past twenty seven years, Park has worked in all sectors of the housing market as an entrepreneur to a corporate executive to government official to a nonprofit housing advocate.

Mr. Park served as the last Chair of the Federal Reserve’s Consumer Advisory Council which provides advice on federal regulatory issues to the Federal Reserve on regulatory matters that impact consumers and communities throughout the country.  Park also was the Chair of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies – a nonpartisan organization focused on developing the future elected leadership within the Asian American community.  In addition, Park has served on numerous nonprofit and housing related boards including the Low Income Investment Fund and Mercy Housing among others.

Additionally, Park recently produced a featured length Movie entitled “Alien Strain” which is now available through Redbox and Amazon Prime in the US and UK.

Park holds three bachelor degrees from University of California at Irvine (Political Science, Economics and Art) and a Master’s degree from George Washington University (Public Administration).

Sarah Rosen Wartell became the third president of the Urban Institute in February 2012.  A public policy executive and housing markets expert, Ms. Wartell was President Bill Clinton’s deputy assistant for economic policy and the deputy director of his National Economic Council. In 2003, she co-founded the Center for American Progress, serving as its first chief operating officer and general counsel. Later, as executive vice president, she oversaw its policy teams and fellows. Her work has focused on the economy and housing finance, mortgage markets, and consumer protection. 

Errol is the chief industry development officer for Zillow Group and is responsible for industry relations strategy and business-to-business product development and tools in the Zillow Group brand portfolio. He joined Zillow in 2014.

Errol has more than 20 years of experience in technology and the real estate industry. He has been named one of Inman News’ 100 Most Influential Real Estate Leaders in the U.S. for seven consecutive years and ranked No. 19 on the Swanepoel Power 200 list of most powerful people in U.S. residential real estate.

Previously, Errol held the roles of chief strategy officer and chief revenue officer at Move, Inc. While at Move, he was also president of Realtor.com from 2007 to 2014, and president of Move’s business-to-business, Top Producer Systems from 2003 to 2007. Before joining Move, Samuelson was co-founder of real estate consultancy Pranix and was director of sales and product management in the real estate, mortgage banking, and law enforcement verticals at GTE Enterprise Solutions. He also was one of the original designers of T-III, a ground-breaking system that introduced interactive mapping and Internet networking to the multiple listing service business.

Errol graduated with honors from Simon Fraser University with a bachelor’s degree in applied science (electronics engineering).

Faith created an advisory services firm in 2016 to support on-going efforts to modernize the housing finance marketplace.  Her focus is to bring mortgage into the 21st century leveraging rapidly advancing technology with a view of policy and business execution.  Faith’s Washington DC career spans over 25 years as an industry leader from Risk Management/Capital markets to leading the crisis Era HOPE NOW Alliance, where she led the banks, non-profits, loan servicers, government and investors to help mitigate foreclosures and reach consumers at risk.  Through her tenure she assisted more than 7 million consumers through modification solutions to prevent foreclosure.  She serves on many boards, including NFHA, and is currently the chair of HLP.org (formerly Hope LoanPort), technology non-profit serving consumers in crisis to communicate with their lender, investors and counselors.  Faith was highlighted by the MBA Magazine as one of the 20 Distinguished Industry Women over the last century and in 2012 as Housing Wire’s Women of Influence.  She also received a lifetime achievement award from the Five Star Institute.  She holds a BSBA in accounting from Shippensburg State College and an MBA with a finance concentration from the University of Pittsburgh.

Michael A. Spanos, president of the A.G. Spanos Companies, is responsible for the company’s development activities across the country.  His responsibilities include the areas of property management, land acquisition, land development, and multi-family construction. From the company’s California headquarters in Stockton, Michael travels regularly to monitor and manage the company’s projects.

Debra W. Still, CMB, is President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Financial Services, which includes Pulte Mortgage LLC, PGP Title and PCIC Insurance and employs over 800 individuals throughout the U.S.  Still is also President and CEO of Pulte Mortgage, a nationwide lender headquartered in Englewood, Colorado, which has helped more than 400,000 homebuyers finance their new home purchases since 1972.  Pulte Financial Services is a part of PulteGroup, America’s largest homebuilder with operations in 26 states and the District of Columbia.  

Still has four decades of experience in the mortgage industry.  She joined Pulte Mortgage in 1983, as Vice President/Branch Manager of the Maryland Division and subsequently held that position with the Dallas/Fort Worth Division.   In June 1997, she was promoted to Executive Vice President, Production, and in October of that year was appointed to the Pulte Mortgage Board of Directors and named Corporate Secretary.  Still became Chief Operating Officer in 1999, and in August 2004, was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer.  She was named President and Chief Executive Officer of Pulte Financial Services in 2010.

Still served as the 2013 Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association and is currently a member of the association’s Board of Directors, chaired the Affordable Housing Subgroup for GSE reform and is a member of MBA’s Consumer Affairs Advisory Council.  Still was awarded MBA’s Andrew D. Woodward Distinguished Service Award in 2014.  As an active MBA member for more than a decade, Still has also served as Chair of MBA’s Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG,) Chairman of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee, Chairman of the Council for Residential Mortgage Servicing for the 21st Century and was Chair of the MBA Forward Task Force.  She has also served on MBA’s Strategic Planning Committee, MBA’s Loan Origination Task Force, and Secondary and Capital Markets Committee.  Still has testified before Congress multiple times.  Still is presently the Chairman of MBA’s Opens Doors Foundation.    

Still is a graduate of Ithaca College, Ithaca, N.Y., with a Bachelor of Science degree and has completed graduate work in Finance at George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Mark M. Zandi is chief economist of Moody’s Analytics, where he directs economic research. Moody’s Analytics, a subsidiary of Moody’s Corp., is a leading provider of economic research, data and analytical tools. Dr. Zandi is a cofounder of Economy.com, which Moody’s purchased in 2005.

Dr. Zandi’s broad research interests encompass macroeconomics, financial markets and public policy. His recent research has focused on mortgage finance reform and the determinants of mortgage foreclosure and personal bankruptcy. He has analyzed the economic impact of various tax and government spending policies and assessed the appropriate monetary policy response to bubbles in asset markets.

A trusted adviser to policymakers and an influential source of economic analysis for businesses, journalists and the public, Dr. Zandi frequently testifies before Congress on topics including the economic outlook, the nation’s daunting fiscal challenges, the merits of fiscal stimulus, financial regulatory reform, and foreclosure mitigation.

Dr. Zandi conducts regular briefings on the economy for corporate boards, trade associations and policymakers at all levels. He is on the board of directors of MGIC, the nation’s largest private mortgage insurance company, and The Reinvestment Fund, a large CDFI that makes investments in disadvantaged neighborhoods. He is often quoted in national and global publications and interviewed by major news media outlets, and is a frequent guest on CNBC, NPR, Meet the Press, CNN, and various other national networks and news programs.

Dr. Zandi is the author of Paying the Price: Ending the Great Recession and Beginning a New American Century, which provides an assessment of the monetary and fiscal policy response to the Great Recession. His other book, Financial Shock: A 360º Look at the Subprime Mortgage Implosion, and How to Avoid the Next Financial Crisis, is described by the New York Times as the “clearest guide” to the financial crisis.

Dr. Zandi earned his B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD at the University of Pennsylvania. He lives with his wife and three children in the suburbs of Philadelphia.

Chris Schell is Senior Vice President – Eastern Market Area for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Companies. In his role as senior vice president he provides vision and strategic direction for responsible, profitable growth in the 14 states that make up the Eastern Market Area. He has more than 27 years’ experience with State Farm.

Chris joined State Farm in 1990 and has served in a variety of executive leadership positions in agency leadership in Ohio and Texas and spent time leading the company’s day to day agency operations at its Corporate Headquarters. He assumed his current position in 2018.

He received a bachelor’s degree in marketing from University of Dayton and a master’s degree in business from Ohio University. He earned the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation in 1993 and the Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) designation in 1997.