GENERAL SESSION: Unlock Growth for Your Team and Company

David Upbin

Vice President, Education and Strategy, Mortgage Bankers Association

David Upbin is the Vice President of Education and Strategy. David joined MBA in 2013 and is currently responsible for the overall success of MBA Education, the premier training provider for the single-family and commercial/multifamily real estate finance industry. In any year, MBA Education trains upwards of 85,000 industry professionals via flagship programs such as School of Mortgage Banking I-III, the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation, Future Leaders, and a library of over 200 self-study courses. During his time at MBA, David has played a significant role in the development and execution of several key initiatives, Commercial Real Estate Basics, the Certified Mortgage Compliance Professional (CMCP) designation and Education Advantage, a training package geared towards Independent Mortgage Bankers and community-based lenders. Recently, David has overseen the launch of a suite of offerings to help member companies ensure that Board members and senior executives have the essential knowledge to lead single-family organizations. David has spearheaded the effort to expand MBA Education's reach into colleges and universities, in an effort to create greater awareness of mortgage banking at the undergraduate and executive certificate levels. Through the Mortgage Banking Bound program, MBA Education is giving students access to mortgage banking training unlike ever before and creating connections between those students and member companies. For his duties related to MBA strategy, David helps develop, track and manage annual MBA performance goals and objectives, and plays a key role in the oversight of the MBA's cross-department strategic initiatives. Prior to joining MBA, David was a Client Relationship Manager at Cambridge Associates, LLC, where he led teams of client reporting specialists in charge of performance measurement and monitoring for institutional clients. David holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

Katherine Shappley

Chief Operating Officer, Fast Forward Group

Katherine “Shap” Shappley serves as Chief Operating Officer of The Fast Forward Group, a leadership development and executive coaching company that drives mindset and behavioral change for high performance leaders and teams. She has spent 20 years in the digital space, leading teams and businesses across advertising, commerce, partnerships, and marketing. Most recently, she spent 13 years at Meta, serving as a Vice President across a variety of commerce and small business functions and as Meta Austin’s Head of Office. Her passion for people development started after college while teaching English in Turkey, the Czech Republic, and South Korea. Many of her students were small business leaders with entrepreneurial ambitions, as well as corporate leaders. She saw firsthand that enabling people and business growth at companies of every size delivers massive impact on economies around the globe. Shap has focused her career on building high-functioning teams and driving dramatic organizational and revenue growth. As a DEI champion, Shap believes that we all share a professional and personal stake in the world becoming more equal for people, teams, and businesses. She currently serves as a board advisor for Nav.it, a financial health platform bringing financial health to workers everywhere. She has been recognized as a Texas Top 100 in business and has served as a board member for the Alliance for Inclusive and Multicultural Marketing and All In Together.