mPower Lunch: The Leadership Edge: Mastering Body Language & Emotional Intelligence for Women in Power

2025 MBA Chair; President, Lennar Mortgage

Laura Escobar is the 2025 MBA Chair and President of Lennar Mortgage. A 30-year mortgage industry veteran, Escobar has held leadership positions with both bank-owned and independent mortgage companies overseeing all aspects of mortgage banking, including production, operations, compliance, accounting, and training. Her personal ground level experience in every facet of mortgage lending has enabled her to manage and fully integrate all of these departments within Lennar Mortgage. Escobar is highly engaged in the industry, serves on MBA’s Board of Directors, and was co-chair of MBA’s IMB Executive Council from 2020–2022. She is also a director of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation, which she has supported by successfully fundraising for the foundation’s work and leading Lennar in company campaigns. Beyond her industry work, she is also a licensed mental health counselor and devotes much of her time to working with underprivileged women.

mPower Founder; Chief Operating Officer, Mortgage Bankers Association

Marcia M. Davies is MBA’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for ensuring cross-organizational alignment and facilitating the implementation of strategic initiatives, as well as maintaining oversight of key organizational priorities. She provides leadership, guidance and overall management to the Public Affairs, Marketing, 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 and in various roles at Freddie Mac for 21 years. She 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. She is a member of the NAWRB Diversity and Inclusion Leadership Council (NDILC), three-time recipient of Women with Vision award, and was honored by HousingWire as one of its 2015 Women of Influence.

New York Times Best Selling Author and International Trainer

Janine Driver is the New York Times best-selling author of You Say More Than You Think, and an international trainer and keynote speaker providing salespeople, professionals and executives with cutting-edge, scientifically based communication tools on how to win new business, increase sales, improve selection of salespeople and staff, and generate a significant return on investment. Driver spent 17-years as an investigator with ATF, has trained the FBI, CIA, and Scotland Yard Police, and today her consulting clients include Comcast, Proctor and Gamble, Lockheed Martin, Coca-Cola, Hershey, Sales Force, Million Dollar Round Table, and more. Driver is also a popular media guest, with appearances on shows including Court TV, Rachael Ray, NBC's Today Show, CNN and FOX News. Driver's four TEDx talks, all on reading and influencing human behavior, have over five million views combined (can be seen on YouTube) and she will give another TEDx talk in the winter of 2021 on "What if you're not just an extrovert or an introvert?