mPower Session: Built to Lead: Shaping the Future of CRE Finance

Laura Hopkins, AMP

Senior Vice President of Membership, Meetings and mPower, Mortgage Bankers Association

Laura Hopkins is Senior Vice President of Membership and Meetings at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where she leads the association’s Membership and Meetings departments. Since joining MBA in 2017 as Director of Membership, she has advanced through leadership roles and in 2025 assumed her current position. In this role, Hopkins oversees Member Services, Residential Membership, Associate Membership, and Commercial/Multifamily Membership functions, while also leading the strategic direction and management of MBA’s conferences and meetings, as well as mPower, MBA’s networking platform for women in the real estate finance industry. With a focus on developing, strengthening, and managing relationships with senior executives and their teams at member companies, Hopkins and her team are dedicated to maximizing the value of MBA membership, enhancing engagement, and fortifying member connections across the industry. With nearly two decades of sales, marketing, and management expertise in the mortgage banking sector, Hopkins has built a career centered on expanding business platforms through strategic recruiting, driving program and product utilization, and growing revenue. She is recognized for her unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional service and support to both MBA members and colleagues. A strong advocate for advancing women in the industry, Hopkins has been actively engaged with mPower since its inception and was honored in 2025 with HousingWire’s Women of Influence award. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and Merchandising from Florida State University.

Kelli Burke

Vice President, Commercial Real Estate Finance | Policy & Strategic Industry Engagement, Mortgage Bankers Association

Kelli Burke is Vice President of Commercial Multifamily Finance (CMF) for the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In this management role, Burke develops and executes MBA’s CMF member engagement strategy across the various sectors within commercial real estate finance and serves as a staff expert on several business functions, including originations, underwriting, securitization, servicing, and asset management. Her responsibilities also include leading the planning and content development for MBA’s annual CREF Convention and Expo, and Servicing and Technology conference. Burke has over two decades of experience in commercial real estate and hospitality. Before joining MBA, she held several hospitality management roles, including as sous chef, food event planner, and restaurateur for businesses in Dallas and San Diego. Prior to that, she worked for 11 years in expanding roles at Prudential Mortgage Capital Company, LLC, in Dallas, including as Vice President, Information Systems, where she partnered closely with the commercial servicing business of the company. Burke also worked for seven years in commercial servicing at GMAC Commercial Mortgage, a predecessor company of Berkadia, in Atlanta. Burke holds a Masters Certificate in Applied Project Management from Villanova University, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Phoenix in Dallas, and an Associate of Science in Culinary Arts from the Art Institute of California.

Stacy Gray Ackermann

Global Managing Partner, K&L Gates, LLP

Stacy Ackermann is the Global Managing Partner of K&L Gates LLP. She is a partner in K&L Gates’s global finance practice, and her individual practice includes representing lenders, servicers, investors, and other market participants in a wide range of sophisticated financial and credit market transactions, with a focus on structured finance. Stacy joined K&L Gates in 2012 and has held key leadership roles, including serving on the firm’s Management Committee for two terms before assuming the role of Global Managing Partner in 2025. She is a frequent speaker on industry issues and serves on the Mortgage Bankers Association’s COMBOG, is a Fellow of the American College of Real Estate Lawyers, and chaired the CREFC Servicer’s Forum.

Chelsea Cutler

Senior Managing Director, CBRE Capital Markets

Chelsea is responsible for recruiting, on-boarding, and training/development for CBRE’s Capital Markets business in the United States. In this role, she oversees the development of the next generation of analysts and Property Sales/Debt and Structured Finance professionals in the U.S. Previously, she was Western Regional Manager of the Debt and Structured Finance within CBRE Capital Markets and holds extensive experience in the origination, structuring, underwriting, closing, and servicing of commercial real estate debt for multifamily and commercial with various debt sources, including agency lenders, life companies and banks. Prior to joining CBRE in 2010, Chelsea worked in underwriting and closing for Grandbridge Real Estate Capital working on various commercial and multifamily transactions. She began her career as in-house counsel at a commercial real estate development firm in the Houston area, where she focused on the acquisition of office, land, and multifamily properties with various nationwide equity partners.

Melissa A. Farrell

Managing Director, Head of U.S. Originations, PGIM

Melissa Farrell is a managing director and head of U.S. Debt Originations with PGIM Real Estate. Based in New York, Melissa leads the originations team and is responsible for overseeing the origination platform of commercial mortgage loans across all major capital sources and property types throughout the United States. She is currently on the U.S. Debt Executive Council. Previously, Melissa managed the originations for the Eastern and Midwestern regions and served as the primary pricing authority in those territories. Melissa has more than 25 years of commercial real estate experience. Since rejoining the company in 1997, Melissa has held a series of management roles. She previously oversaw originations in the Midwest Region and managed the company's Chicago office for 12 Years. Earlier, she had worked on the equity side as an analyst in several different areas, including acquisition and dispositions, and the capital markets group with Prudential Realty Group. Prior to rejoining the company, Melissa served a short tenure as an associate in the derivatives marketing group at Scotia Bank in New York. She began her career as a valuations analyst for a hotel valuation and consulting firm. Melissa received her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University School of Hotel Administration and earned her master of business administration from New York University Stern School of Business. Melissa holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Kamara Green

National Director of Affordable Production, BWE

Kamara Green, National Director of Affordable Housing Production is responsible for overseeing the company’s nationwide affordable originations including Agency, FHA, Private Placement and Rural Development. She is also the executive champion of BWE’s employee engagement initiatives. Previously at BWE, she managed the Affordable Analytics team as Director of Analytics and Sales overseeing Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and private placement debt structuring and served as the liaison for GSE relationships. Kamara has over 20 years of experience in housing finance. Before joining Bellwether, Kamara was a Senior Relationship Manager at Freddie Mac, working with lenders and sponsors to structure Targeted Affordable Housing (TAH) transactions. Prior to Freddie Mac, she spent 12 years at Bank of America as a Tax Credit Originator, working with syndicators to identify investments for both proprietary and multi-investor funds, placing more than $1 billion in volume during her tenure. Kamara holds an MBA from Pepperdine University - Graziadio School of Business and Science and a BS in Business Administration from California State University at Northridge. She currently serves on several MBA, GSE and non-profit advisory councils.