mPower Event: It's Not All in Her Head

Marcia M. Davies

mPower Founder; Chief Operating Officer, Mortgage Bankers Association

Marcia Davies is Chief Operating Officer for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). As COO, Marcia is responsible for ensuring cross-organizational alignment and facilitating the implementation of strategic initiatives, as well as maintaining oversight of key organizational priorities. She is also the lead strategist for MBA's external activities, providing leadership, guidance and overall management to the public affairs and marketing divisions. In addition, Marcia provides strategic direction and management of MBA's Conferences, Membership, Education, Information Technology and Office Services divisions. She also provides management oversight to and is a Board member of MBA's Opens Doors Foundation. Previously, Marcia worked at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), as Senior Advisor to the Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner. She directed HUD's industry relations program to strengthen relationships, garner support, streamline communications and resolve policy and regulatory issues. Before joining HUD, Marcia spent 21 years at Freddie Mac, where she held a variety of officer positions in communications, customer outreach, marketing, servicer relations and policy. Marcia is the founder of mPower - MBA Promoting Opportunities for Women to Extend their Reach - MBA's networking platform for women in the real estate finance industry. Under her leadership, mPower has grown into an engaged community of more than 24,000, providing best-in-class conference and webinar programming, networking events, and online opportunities to stay engaged. Through mPower, more women are positioned to achieve leadership positions and are well represented in all segments of the industry. Marcia is a member of the NAWRB Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council (NDILC). She is also a member of Women in Housing Finance and the International Women's Leadership Association. Marcia received the silver Stevie Awards for Women in Business 2018 Maverick of the Year. She is also the recipient of Five Star's Laurie A. Maggiano Legacy award, a two-time Mortgage Women Magazine Women With Vision award winner, and a recipient of the NAWRB 2018 Industry Revolutionary Award, and the CIFS Diversity & Inclusion 2018 Trailblazer Award. In 2015, Marcia was honored by HousingWire as one of its 2015 Women of Influence. Marcia is a graduate of the Katharine Gibbs School in Montclair, N.J.

Elizabeth Comen, M.D.

Physician-Scientist, Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU, Medical Historian

Dr. Elizabeth has dedicated her medical career to saving the lives of women. Her meticulous research shows that women’s health is often overlooked and misunderstood, leading to life-threatening consequences in the form of delayed or inaccurate diagnoses. Dr. Comen’s book “All in Her Head: The Truth and Lies Early Medicine Taught Us About Women’s Bodies and Why It Matters Today,” is a USA Today bestseller and on Oprah’s Book Club list. In a world where women weren’t required to be included in clinical trials until 1993, and heart disease symptoms common in women are still called atypical because they don’t often present in men, Dr. Comen works to right the wrongs of centuries of what she calls “insidious incuriousity” about women’s health. Dr. Comen is the recipient of numerous grants and awards, and her research has been published in prestigious scientific journals. She has been recognized as a Top Doctor for numerous years and has appeared in media outlets including Good Morning America, The Today Show, Wall Street Journal online, Fox News, and more. She earned her BA in the History of Science from Harvard College, her MD from Harvard Medical School, then completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, and her fellowship in oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.