MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND OPERATIONS TRACK: Practical Strategies to Reach More Mortgage-Ready Borrowers

Director, FICO

Michael Singer serves as Director of Marketing for FICO, where he is focused on outreach to mortgage and secondary market clients. A seasoned marketing communications professional, his career has included marketing leadership positions with Fannie Mae, where he served as senior brand manager, the Urban Land Institute, where he was vice president of marketing and public relations, and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, where he was associate director of marketing. He began his career in financial services marketing at GEICO. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago.

Head of Public Policy and Operations, Zillow Home Loans

Nicole Booth is a respected housing tech expert and executive leader with a background in business strategy, public policy, and regulatory affairs spanning nearly two decades. Nicole previously served as Executive Vice President of Public Affairs at Notarize, where she built the start-up's Public Affairs Team and led efforts on digital transformation. Prior, Nicole was Vice President of Public Policy at the Rocket Family of Companies, aiding and overseeing the company's public policy planning and advocacy agenda and building the company's first-ever state government affairs team. She also spent time at QC Ally, a tech-enabled loan quality and audit services company, as its Chief Executive Officer and Chief Marketing Officer. Nicole proudly serves on the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) MORPAC Steering Committee and supports mPower. In 2023, she was awarded the MBA Burton C. Wood Legislative Service Award in recognition of her service to the association and the real estate finance industry.

Chief Executive Officer, Down Payment Resource

Rob Chrane is founder and CEO of Down Payment Resource and a leader in the homeownership affordability space. A 30-year veteran of the real estate and mortgage industries, Chrane launched the only comprehensive database of U.S. homebuyer assistance programs and develops tools that empower lenders, real estate agents and listing services to connect homebuyers with affordability programs. Chrane actively collaborates with housing organizations and coalitions such as the Urban Land Institute, National Fair Housing Alliance and the Mortgage Bankers Association’s CONVERGENCE initiative. He is a frequent speaker at national and local events on the topic of homeownership affordability.

Sales Manager, loanDepot.com, LLC

With more than 20 years of experience coaching, encouraging, and supporting un-served communities into homeownership success, Mosi Gatling has emerged as a top 1% loan originator and a nationally-recognized voice in the movement to close the minority homeownership gap. At loanDepot, she oversees a diverse and multi-lingual team of mortgage professionals who bring their unique cultural perspectives to the customers they serve, including first-time homeowners, step-up purchasers, veterans, retirees, and new construction buyers, among others. She began her career in banking but moved into the mortgage field in 2000, where she believed her financial knowledge could be better utilized helping people realize their goals with the help of homeownership.

Chief Customer Officer, FormFree

Christy Moss, CMB, is chief customer officer (CCO) at FormFree. As head of the company’s customer strategy, the 30-year mortgage industry veteran leads voice of customer initiatives across the organization and oversees sales. Before joining FormFree, Moss spent 11 years at Fannie Mae, where she played a critical role in advancing business initiatives beneficial to the post-crisis mortgage lending ecosystem. From 2015 to 2019, Moss focused on driving lender and partner adoption of technologies that improve the borrower experience and lender profitability in her role as strategic business and relationship manager. Moss has held advanced positions in the correspondent lending divisions of CitiMortgage, Wachovia and GE Capital Mortgage Services, where she gained an in-depth understanding o

Chief Executive Officer, iEmergent

Laird Nossuli is the CEO of iEmergent, a leading provider of analytics, and strategic advisory services for the housing industry. She leads the company’s product and growth strategies, with a special focus on innovative solutions that empower lenders to improve their lending with diverse and under-served borrowers. Her professional experience in mortgage strategy, analytics, and community development along with advanced degrees in social work, make Laird uniquely positioned to help iEmergent’s clients better serve their communities, while also increasing their market share. Laird contributes to many industry publications and frequently speaks on topics of mortgage market opportunity, affordable housing, and diverse lending.

Director of Diversity Lending & Strategic Partnerships, Movement Mortgage, LLC

Montell Watson is the Director of Diversity Lending and leads Movement Mortgage’s Consumer Direct channel. In his 7 years at Movement, Watson has helped lead several corporate verticals and initiatives within the organization including Movement’s Consumer Direct channel, servicing retention channel, and Diverse lending platform. Watson started his career in mortgage originations in 2008 at Wells Fargo and RBC Bank. He then transitioned into an Investment Advisory role at TD Ameritrade where he was a regular Presidents Club member. While at TD Ameritrade, Watson lead sales teams and helped role out strategic technology and business strategies within the region. Watson currently serves on the board of directors of Movement Schools and is passionate about making housing available for all people. He is a HousingWire guest writer and holds a BA in business administration from Elon University.