GENERAL SESSION: Speak Now - Leadership Lessons and Learnings

Enterprise Client Executive, Bronwyn Morrissey Coaching

Bronwyn’s mission is to empower individuals to achieve their dreams and goals and find their sweet spots in work and life. She is a leader whose journey has transformed over 27 years as a successful sales executive in Mortgage Banking into a deeply meaningful mission as a certified mindfulness Leadership coach. Bronwyn’s unique approach to leadership development goes beyond the classroom and guides individuals into the wilderness, pushing them beyond their comfort zones and sparking life-changing confidence and inspiration. Drawing from her rich experiences in mortgage banking, yoga studio ownership, and a life immersed in nature in Colorado, she empowers others to reconnect with their true essence, cultivating confidence, balance, mindfulness, and joy in their personal and professional lives.

Vice President, Client Management and Client Success, ICE Mortgage Technology

Kerri Girouard is the vice president of client management and client success at ICE Mortgage Technology. Girouard is dedicated to helping her customers smoothly adopt new solutions, maximize the technology they have in place and drive real ROI. She is known across the organization for embodying ICE’s customer-first values and going above and beyond for her clients. Not only is she a charismatic leader who consistently hits the goals set for her and her team, but she also takes personal time to mentor people throughout the organization. Girouard has been with ICE Mortgage Technology for more than 10 years.

Director, Public Affairs, Mortgage Bankers Association

Falen Taylor is the Director of Public Affairs at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where she manages media relations and member communications activities for MBA’s Research, mPower, affordable housing, and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs. Falen joined MBA in 2019 as a Public Affairs Specialist, where she was in charge of executing MBA’s advocacy newsletters and member communications as well as assisting with MBA’s media outreach. Prior to joining MBA, Falen was at the National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions where she assisted with media strategy, social media content development, and developing internal communications processes. Falen earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and American Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park. She also earned her Master of Arts Degree in Communications and Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University.

Founder and CEO, Bold Industries Group

Leigh Burgess is a thought leader, game-changer and powerhouse connector determined to ignite and support the bold journeys of others. After over twenty years in healthcare, she founded Bold Industries Group, a platform for uniting, inspiring and empowering women that brings together a unique global network via her Bold events, the Bold Leaders Collective membership, The Bold Lounge podcast and through her dynamic speaking, coaching, and consulting engagements. With a focus on the intersection of mindset, strategy and wellness, her Believe-Own-Learn-Design (B.O.L.D.) Framework is your map to the bold life. Leigh’s forthcoming book, Be Bold Today: Unleash Your Potential, Master Your Mindset, and Achieve Success, which is all about how to apply the framework to your own life, will be distributed by Simon and Schuster in November 2024.

Former Chief Financial Officer and Chief DEI Officer

Lisa Haynes is the Former Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer for the MBA. As CFO, Haynes is responsible for accounting and financial functions, including setting the policies, procedures, strategies and practices of MBA, as well as overseeing the Association's assets. She also works to ensure future financial stability for MBA through strategic planning and forecasting. Before joining MBA, Haynes worked for Fannie Mae and served the company in several positions including Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis, Vice President for Finance Transformation, and Vice President for Operational Accounting, where she led a team of 45 professionals responsible for the management of single and multifamily loans worth approximately $3 trillion. As MBA's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, she serves as an executive-level strategist to promote a comprehensive strategy to foster a culture of diversity and inclusion within the real estate finance industry. In addition to working with Human Resources, Lisa develops and implements plans, programs, and activities that educate and engage employees on the value of diversity and the critical importance of inclusion. Before her work at Fannie Mae, Haynes established and grew her own consulting practice in Massachusetts. Her practice specialized in financial consulting services for nonprofits and small businesses. Haynes was also the Senior Associate Controller and Director for John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. in Boston where she led the SEC and Management Reporting team during the company's demutualization in 2000. Haynes holds a Master of Business Administration from the Boston University Graduate School of Management, Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Bentley College, and is certified as a public accountant in the state of Virginia

President & CEO, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Alanna McCargo is president and CEO of FHLBank San Francisco, a cooperatively owned wholesale bank that partners with financial services and community institutions of all sizes to provide liquidity and invest in communities. The FHLBank System is one of the largest private providers of affordable housing grants in the nation. With more than 25 years of housing policy and financial services experience in the banking and secondary mortgage market, Ms. McCargo most recently served as president of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae), a wholly owned government corporation with over $2.5 trillion guarantee portfolio responsible for advancing affordable homeownership and rental housing and attracting global investment into the United States housing market. In 2021, she made history as the first woman and woman of color to be appointed by the President of the United States to serve in this role and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate with bipartisan support. Previously, Ms. McCargo served as senior advisor for housing finance in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) where she worked with key stakeholders to stabilize the housing market during the global pandemic, deploy housing relief programs, strengthen fair housing and fair lending, and improve housing affordability and access to financing. From 2016-2021, Ms. McCargo was vice president of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, an economic policy research firm, where she led and developed evidence-based research and analysis on the U.S housing finance system. Prior to that she held leadership roles with CoreLogic and JP Morgan Chase and spent over a decade at Fannie Mae, a government sponsored enterprise focused on providing liquidity and stability to the affordable housing finance market. Ms. McCargo has served on nonprofit boards focused on advancing affordable housing, tackling homelessness, and advancing opportunities for people and communities. She has dedicated her career and her public and community service to ensuring access to affordable housing finance and improving housing outcomes for individuals and households across the nation, with particular focus on a more equitable, sustainable, and accessible housing finance system.

President and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Dynex Capital, Inc.

Smriti L. Popenoe joined the Board of Directors at Dynex in September 2023. She is President and Chief Investment Officer of the Company. Her extensive career in finance and capital markets brings a wealth of expertise in risk management, investment leadership, and best practices in portfolio optimization. She was recently named to the MBA Commercial Real Estate Board of Governors and volunteers as the Chair of the Investment Committee for the Mortgage Bankers Association. As President of Dynex, Smriti is accountable for the raising, deployment, and management of the company’s capital. As Chief Investment Officer, she leads the team that oversees the Company’s investment portfolio of agency and non-agency Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS), Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities (CMBS), loans; associated hedges in fixed-income derivatives, and financing arrangements. With almost three decades of career success, she served as Chief Risk Officer at PHH Corporation, a leading provider of mortgage banking and fleet management outsourcing services. As Senior Vice President with Wells Fargo (Wachovia Bank at the time), she managed the $100+B investment portfolio and led the team through the financial crisis of 2009. Further reflecting a broad career, she served as Senior Vice President, Investments with Sunset Financial Resources, a startup REIT. She managed an investment portfolio of $400B fixed-rate mortgage-backed securities (MBS) and whole loans while with Freddie Mac during the early years of her career. Ms. Popenoe received the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 1997 and holds three degrees: an MBA from the University of Rochester, a Master’s-level French diploma from the Alliance Française, and a B.S. in Chemistry and Environmental Science from St. Joseph’s College in Bangalore, India. Dedicated to building winning teams and mentoring others, she is a Founding Member of the Washington DC chapter of Chief, the only organization designed for senior women leaders to strengthen their leadership journey, cross-pollinate ideas across industries, and effect change from the top down.