GENERAL SESSION: The Mechanics of Successful Advocacy and Political Engagement

Liz Facemire

Director, State Government Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Liz Facemire is the Director of State Government Affairs at MBA and takes part in leading the association’s policy and advocacy engagement at the state and local level, which includes serving as primary staff to the association’s State Legislative and Regulatory Committee. Prior to joining MBA in 2023, Liz spent her career in the industry in a variety of roles, including as a licensed mortgage loan originator and underwriter. In 2018 she served as a state policy lobbyist mostly covering Northwestern states. In 2021, she moved into a specialized role in mortgage policy supporting MBA membership priorities and advocacy efforts externally. She has been a member of many of our state MBA counterparts and has assisted in driving MBA’s policy initiatives throughout her time in Government Affairs.

Yvette Clermont, CMB, AMP

Branch Manager and Mortgage Consultant, Novus Home Mortgage

Yvette Clermont is celebrating her 27th year as a Mortgage Banker and Branch Manager. She holds the prestigious designations of Certified Mortgage Banker, Accredited Mortgage Professional as well as Certified Mortgage Planning Specialist. She is consistently listed in the Top 1% of all lenders in the country. She has been awarded the Five Star Mortgage Professional award multiple years and named as an Elite Woman in Mortgage by her peers. She is active in the Mortgage Bankers Association, regularly participating in political advocacy, has remained an active board member for her local MBA chapter, and is currently serving as President of the MBA of Florida.   Her “why” is that she believes those who want to become homeowners should be shown the path to accomplish that goal. With a wealth of experience spanning both prosperous and challenging years in the mortgage industry, she shares valuable advice and education daily. Advocacy is at the core of Yvette's principles, and she actively promotes the benefits of education and becoming an involved member of the Mortgage Bankers Association. As an advocate for industry engagement, Yvette passionately speaks on the importance of active participation, and how it has positively served her over her extensive career.

Alicia Goncalves, CMB

Director of Associate Membership, Mortgage Bankers Association

Alicia Goncalves is an innovative, collaborative visionary with a passion for moving the mortgage industry forward. With 18 years’ experience, she has established herself as a creditable mortgage professional. Currently, she is a Senior Customer Success Manager at nCino (formerly known as SimpleNexus). Alicia is a member of the Connecticut Mortgage Bankers Association where she sits as Chair of the Young Mortgage Professionals (YMP), President of the YMP Advisory Board and a member of the Board of Directors. Alicia’s involvement with the MBA includes being on the mPact steering committee, State Captain for the Mortgage Action Alliance, Future Leader graduate and group winner and a recent CMB graduate. In 2021, she co-founded the CMBA’s Women in Mortgage Banking Seminar which is dedicated to helping women meet their goals, overcome their obstacles and work towards their own version of success. Alicia has moderated multiple sessions including presenting the keynote, contributing to the events success. Through her efforts with the CMBA’s YMP, Alicia has moderated and spoke on numerous panels through the YMPU initiative, which strives to provide continuing education for all mortgage professionals in the hopes of securing the strongest tomorrow possible. She was honored with the CMBA Appreciation Award for her significant contributions to the association. Alicia is not just a professional; she is a passionate industry advocate. Alicia dedicates herself to shaping the industry's future.

Angela Mahfouz

Director, State Government Affairs, Rocket Mortgage, LLC

Prior to joining Rocket Companies’ Government Affairs team, Angela Mahfouz spent 4+ years with the Rocket Community Fund leading nationwide projects that engaged our RKT team members in community driven initiatives. From there, Angela joined the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) as the Assistant Director for Philanthropy for about 2 years where she fostered relationships with WOLA's growing community of individual donors. It didn't take long for Angela to return to Detroit and RKT, this time as an Organizational Change Consultant, and now as a Director of Government Affairs. Since the beginning of Angela’s career, she’s worn many hats, but the constants have remained the same: building and maintaining positive relationships, truly understanding the business areas and people she supports, and impacting the outcome through strategic communications and decision making. Angela’s educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations from the University of Michigan and a master’s in organizational communications and public relations from Wayne State University. Angela is also Prosci’s certified, has completed Organizational Behavior programs in China and Italy, and obtained two consulting certificates from Harvard's college of continuing education.

George Rogers

Vice President of Legislative Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

George Rogers is a strategic government affairs executive with 25 years of federal and state experience. With deep policy expertise, great government contacts, and expert procedural skills, George specializes in outmaneuvering the opposition. He joined MBA in 2023 after being a multiclient lobbyist for a decade, including work for MBA from 2016-23. Prior to his corporate work, George spent nearly fourteen years in key leadership roles in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives, including serving as a senior Policy Advisor and Counsel to the Speaker of the House and to the Minority Leader. He also served as General Counsel of the Committee on Rules, as Oversight and Investigations Counsel for the Government Reform Committee, and as Legislative Counsel to the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Prior to DC, George was the Deputy Chief Counsel for the Indiana State Senate leadership. Before that he was an attorney in private practice. George is a 6th degree blackbelt and has a passion for scuba diving.