The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) announced that Rachel Kelley was named vice president of legislative affairs. In her new role, Kelley will be responsible for advocating on behalf of MBA’s legislative and policy priorities on Capitol Hill, with a primary focus on Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. She joined MBA in 2021 as associate vice president of political affairs. Before joining MBA, Kelley held political fundraising roles at CLT Host 2020 Inc, the Republican National Committee and the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Prior to that, Kelley lobbied and helped manage the PAC for ICSC (formerly known as the International Council of Shopping Centers) and was a lobbyist at a multiclient firm specializing in business development and education appropriation grants for community colleges and technology companies. She also worked previously in political affairs at the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) after beginning her career in the office of former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Alabama).
The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) announced its inaugural corporate board of governors. Chaired by Allen Middleman of Freedom Mortgage, the corporate board of governors also includes Jeff Leinan of Plaza Home Mortgage; John McElhone of NewRez; Kim Nichols of PennyMac TPO; Dawar Alimi of Lender Price; Chris Vinson of Windsor Mortgage; and NAMB liaisons Kimber White and Valerie Saunders.
Cenlar FSB announced that Jay Hackney was appointed vice president of transfer operations and Allyson Kiesel was promoted to vice president of issues and enterprise change management. In his role, Hackney will lead a team dedicated to providing loan boarding experiences for clients and homeowners. Previously, he served as vice president at Shellpoint Mortgage Servicing and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. He earned his bachelor’s degree in finance from Arizona State University. Kiesel, who has been in the financial services industry for more than a decade, will be responsible for the issues management process from root cause analysis through remediation, to oversee the change management team and to build the enterprise change management program. She joined Cenlar in 2016 as a risk manager. She is an attorney who has previously represented clients in foreclosure, REO and title actions. She holds a J.D. from Western Michigan University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Drexel University.
Kind Lending announced the appointment of Jim Linnane as president of retail. Linnane will spearhead the growth of Kind Lending’s national footprint, bringing more than 36 years in the mortgage industry to the company. He has held similar roles at Flagstar Bank, Stearns Lending, Guaranteed Rate and Wells Fargo.
First Home Mortgage Corp. announced the addition of Jonathon Hodgkinson to its McLean, Virginia, branch office. Hodgkinson relocates to the new office following a three-year chapter at the company’s Fairfax, Virginia, location.
Floify announced that Courtney Dodd has joined its team as head of marketing. Dodd has 12 years of experience in the mortgage sector, including her previous role as director of integrated marketing at SimpleNexus. Prior to SimpleNexus, Dodd was a product marketing manager at Ellie Mae (now ICE Mortgage Technology). She also previously served as marketing manager at Calyx Software and as regional marketing consultant at PrimeLending.
