Sara Avery

Sara Avery is a strategic risk management executive with deep expertise in mortgage finance, fintech, and regulatory transformation. She currently serves as the Chief Operational Risk Officer at Cenlar FSB helping to implement, strengthen and optimize risk frameworks. She previously served as Chief Risk Officer for Common Securitization Solutions (CSS), a leading financial technology joint venture supporting the implementation of the Uniform Mortgage-Backed Security (UMBS). At CSS, she built foundational risk management processes and oversaw independent assurance reviews including SOC 1, SOC 2, NIST assessments, and regulatory examinations.
Prior to CSS, Avery held multiple leadership roles at Freddie Mac, where she led risk teams across capital markets valuation, model governance, credit risk, and third-party oversight. She also spearheaded operational transformations in both single-family and multi-family underwriting.
Her experience spans complex regulatory remediation, technology risk integration, and enterprise modernization. A long-time executive sponsor of employee engagement and inclusion programs, Sara is known for cultivating cultures of accountability, partnership, transparency, and continuous improvement.