GENERAL SESSION: Hear from HUD Acting Secretary Todman

2024 MBA Chairman; President, Union Home Mortgage

Mark Jones is the 2024 MBA Chairman and President of Union Home Mortgage. Mark co-founded Amerifirst Home Mortgage in 1983, a company he grew from an individual location in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to over 80 full-service locations and 900 personnel nationwide. In January 2023, Amerifirst merged with Union Home Mortgage to form a top 40 national mortgage lender, where Mark now serves as President. Prior to the merger, Amerifirst was the No. 1 USDA lender and the No. 3 FHA lender in Michigan, and the No. 13 FHA lender in Florida. Amerifirst was also a Ginnie Mae issuer and serviced in-house a $6 billion loan portfolio. Amerifirst ranked as a Best and Brightest Company to Work for in the Nation for five consecutive years (2016-2020) and was named one of the top 50 Best Mortgage Companies to Work For in 2021. In 2016 Mark received the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year award for Michigan and Northwest Ohio. In addition to his service as MBA’s Chairman-Elect, Mark currently serves as Chairman of MBA’s DEI Advisory Committee. He previously served as co-chair of MBA’s Independent Mortgage Bankers Executive Council. Mark also serves as board member and Public Policy Committee Chair at Southwest Michigan First and serves as Chair of Southwest Michigan First PAC.

Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Adrianne Todman is Acting Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). She was previously confirmed by the Senate to serve as the Deputy Secretary of HUD in June, 2021. As Deputy Secretary, she served as the second highest ranking official at HUD, and executed both policy and operational priorities. This included providing guidance on department-wide initiatives to increase housing supply, improve disaster response and recovery efforts, steer climate and resiliency endeavors, and enhance customer access to HUD’s programs. Additionally, she oversaw HUD’s efforts to improve agency hiring and workforce engagement, and enhance the agency's risk assessments, IT investments and contracting protocols. Prior to joining HUD she served as the CEO of the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO) from 2017 to June 2021. During her tenure, she improved the association’s financial standing and business operations, created a member-centric culture, and advocated for funding and policies to preserve and develop affordable housing and help communities thrive. Before joining NAHRO, Acting Secretary Todman served as the Executive Director of the District of Columbia Housing Authority (DCHA). At DCHA, she implemented a national award-winning model to house veterans experiencing homelessness, increased homeownership opportunities by 50 percent for low- and moderate-income families served by DCHA, increased the number of affordable units available in neighborhoods experiencing rapid growth, and oversaw multiple redevelopment efforts. She prioritized repairs to units, services for youth, workforce development, and commissioned the first citywide needs assessment of public housing residents. Acting Secretary Todman previously served in several career positions at HUD. First, as a manager of HUD’s $500 million grant competition that focused on revitalizing distressed public housing sites, and also as a policy aide in the Office of the Secretary where she worked with staff across HUD’s programs. Her career in public service began in the office of then-Congressman Ron de Lugo, a long-serving member representing the U.S. Virgin Islands, where Todman was born and raised. Acting Secretary Todman believes that we have a responsibility to confront housing insecurity; increase and preserve the nation’s housing supply; eliminate housing discrimination; and support community resiliency, particularly following a natural disaster. She has focused on ensuring that HUD has the staff and tools it needs to administer and provide oversight over programs critical to supporting people and communities across the country. She is a graduate of Smith College and lives in Washington, D.C.