Coffee Talk Breakout Session

Jennifer Colwell

Executive Director, Mortgage Bankers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, Inc.

Jennifer Colwell is a Senior Manager at RMK Productions, an association management firm. At RMK, she manages daily operations and events for various associations. In this role, Colwell serves as the Executive Director of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Metropolitan Washington and helps manage the Maryland Mortgage Bankers and Brokers Association. Before RMK, Colwell was the Director of Continuing Education and Events at the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons (ACOS), overseeing program planning, conference management, and CME compliance. Her career includes project management at Degnon Associates and leadership roles in operations at Ritz Carlton. She earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University.

Alan Fowler, CMB, AMP

Chair, MBA State and Local Committee; MBA State Ambassador, NM; and President, Fowler Financial Education and Consulting

Alan Fowler, CMB, is the Principal of Fowler Financial Education and Consulting, LLC, a position he has held since 2009. Most of Fowler’s 44 years of experience is with independent mortgage bankers and credit unions. He is active with MBA, serving as the CMB Society Chair, and is the New Mexico State Ambassador. He is also a recipient of the Michael Rosser, CMB Lifetime Achievement Award, is a Master Faculty Fellow for the School of Mortgage Banking and has served or is currently serving as Chair of the State and Local Committee, the CMB Society, the Credit Union Network, and the Loan Production Committee. Fowler is also the Founder and President of the Forum, a think tank of leaders in real estate finance. He has served as the president of the New Mexico Mortgage Lenders Association (1991 & 2012), chairman of the New Mexico Small Business Investment Corporation, and president of the American Alliance of Loan Management. Fowler is on the Board of Directors for the Ocotillo Foundation, X-Factor Ministries, Gracious Ministries, and the Anderson School of Management Alumni Association at the University of New Mexico. He has been married to his wife, Heather, for 35 years and they have two adult children, one of whom was wise enough not to go into the mortgage business.

Joanne K. Misuraca

Chief Executive Officer, Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association

Joanne Misuraca joined the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association (MMLA) in November 1997. She was hired as the first full-time administrative employee in the association’s history. Since joining the MMLA, Misuraca has helped the Association develop and implement a strategic plan which included a name change from the Mortgage Bankers Association of Michigan to the current Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association, and a board restructuring that reshaped the three local chapter groups. The MMLA has local chapters around the state covering the Western Michigan, Mid-Michigan, and Southeast Michigan regions as well as the State Governing Board of Directors. As CEO of the MMLA, Joanne handles all the daily operations of the Association’s administrative office and works directly with the volunteer board and local committees on the Association events. She also oversees the association’s staff and consultants. On average, the MMLA holds as many as four events per month. The Association currently has nearly 1,100 individual members. As the MMLA’s only full-time employee, Misuraca is the “go-to person” for just about everything pertaining to the Association. Her dedication to the MMLA has not gone unnoticed and she has been awarded by MMLA as well as by the Mortgage Bankers Association for her strong work ethic, dedication and commitment to excellence.

Ainsley Zimmer

Senior Specialist, Engagement (State and Local), Mortgage Bankers Association

Ainsley Zimmer is the Senior Specialist for State and Local Association Engagement at the Mortgage Bankers Association. In that capacity, she works with state and local association volunteers and professional staff to support their unique and vital efforts to represent their members and the real estate finance industry in their states and localities. Before joining MBA in 2024, she worked in outreach and communications in the nonprofit sector, coordinating programs and providing resources and support to nonprofit members and community partners to increase engagement in statewide and localized advocacy efforts in the New York Metro area. Zimmer received her B.A. in Government and Sociology with a minor in Data Analytics from the University of Virginia, where she graduated with Highest Distinction in 2023.