Biography
I have spent 29 years in the mortgage industry, my first job out of college was working in the Appraisal Management department for PHH Mortgage where I worked my way through a variety of roles in Vendor Management, Loan Operations and Processing, Strategic Sourcing and Provider Governance, Vendor Relations and Strategic Planning working primarily with their Servicing teams where we focused on building a robust and regulatory compliant TPRM program. I came to Cenlar 9 years ago in September where I got to build a TPRM from scratch working with the Chief Risk Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, Chief Technology Officer, Office of the CISO and a bevy of some of the best Subject Matter Experts in the business. I am proud to be working for Cenlar, the largest mortgage sub-servicer in the U.S. running their TPRM function. I am an active member of the ABA’s TPRM roundtable and this past June I was invited to speak on a panel at their 2024 National Risk and Compliance Conference in Seattle. In July I was named an Elite Woman by Mortgage Professional America. This award celebrates women who are considered top performers and role models across the mortgage industry. I am a self-proclaimed TPRM nerd and proud to be a diversity ambassador with Cenlar’s DEI group. I love what I do and enjoy sharing best practices with those interested in and just starting out in TPRM!
Leadership Characteristics
Accountability Counts, clear goals and objectives. Listen and extend flexibility where you can while being fair to the team. Have some fun doing what you do. Risk is such a serious and important arm of the organization, you have to laugh where you can. Build positive relationships with others and always be open to collaboration-- the best organizations thrive when people work together for the common good of the organization as opposed to their department.
Leadership Challenges
My degree is in Communications- my experience is in TPRM. I kind of evolved into this genre of risk because I was really good at talking to people and asking questions in a way that while considered credible challenge at times, didn't come off as adversarial. I have worked with great leaders who have taught me a lot, I have also worked with not so great leaders who have taught me ways I can be a better leader to my team and made me work hard to ensure that I am able to articulate the risks of not having a robust TPRM in a regulated institution.
Key Take-a-ways
Build Positive Relationships- Being friendly, dependable and responsive counts- in TPRM it is important to build positive relationships with the business leaders within your organization. The same goes for your team. Verify! Verify! Verify!- In TPRM, Trust but Verify. Documentation/evidence counts! Add Value- Make sure you have a good WIIFM speech for those who resist TPRM. Everyone needs to be a risk manager! Stay In Tune- Stay on top of industry best practices and regulatory changes to ensure your risks aren’t being increased by third party relationships Question the unfamiliar- Ask questions when you need to. TPRM is a genre that requires continuous learning. You will not be able to grow your program to meet the needs of your organization if you don’t understand where risks lie. Be Prepared for the bad stuff to happen- Anticipate that bad things can happen and work to ensure you have the appropriate stakeholders in the organization to drive how the organization will respond to them. There is no I in team- I am not successful as a stand-alone entity. I have built an incredible team who makes me proud of the work that the TPRM does for my organization. The program is not successful because of my efforts alone. A rule of thumb- Make Sure your program is auditable, transparent and repeatable. It will help immensely with regulatory audits.
Fun Fact
I love to cook- and with my Eastern European background, I make a mean homemade Pierogi.