GENERAL SESSION: Leadership Lens – The Future of Servicing

President & Chief Executive Officer, Mortgage Bankers Association

Robert (Bob) Broeksmit is President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). Bob is a senior finance executive and corporate officer with a 35-year career in the mortgage sector. He has directed all aspects of lending activities, including marketing, sales, operations, secondary marketing, loan servicing, and default management. He has also served as a mortgage underwriting expert testifying on many large, high-profile cases. Prior to joining MBA in 2018, Bob served as President and Chief Operating Officer with Treliant, heading the firm’s mortgage litigation support practice and serving diverse financial services clientele including large banks, independent mortgage lenders, community banks, credit unions, and service providers to the mortgage industry. As a Washington-based financial services consultancy, Treliant’s mortgage practice included strategic advisory for executive management and corporate boards; litigation defense, including file reviews, litigation strategy, expert reports, and expert testimony; CFPB examination preparation and implementation of mortgage regulations promulgated by the CFPB and other regulators; and operational aspects of mortgage banking, ranging from origination to servicing and loss mitigation. Before Treliant, Bob held senior leadership positions in the mortgage business, including fourteen years with Chevy Chase Bank (including after its purchase by Capital One), where he was Executive Vice President and President of its B.F. Saul Mortgage Company subsidiary. Bob also was a Vice President at Prudential Home Mortgage for seven years. He has overseen annual originations of $9 billion, a balance sheet of $10 billion in residential mortgages, and a servicing portfolio of $20 billion. He also held positions at Great Western Mortgage, Krupp Residential Mortgage, and The Money Store. Bob has served as the Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association’s Residential Board of Governors and as a member of its Board of Directors. Firms under his leadership have garnered multiple awards for servicing operations excellence, including Freddie Mac’s Tier One and Hall of Fame designations. He is a Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) and a graduate of Yale University.

EVP, Chief Operating Officer, Cenlar FSB

Leslie Peeler is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Cenlar, leading strategic initiatives that enhance client partnerships, expand automation, and strengthen both homeowner and employee experiences. With more than 20 years of leadership in the banking and financial markets, she has driven organizational efficiency and profitability at major institutions including IBM, Fannie Mae, and GMAC Mortgage. Before joining Cenlar, she was a Senior Partner at IBM, where she led business process outsourcing for the Americas and directed the firm’s AI strategy for more than 100 clients.

Senior Executive Vice President and President of Residential Servicing, Freedom Mortgage Corporation

David Sheeler serves as Senior Executive Vice President and President of Residential Servicing at Freedom Mortgage, where he oversees thousands of employees and champions the adoption of advanced technologies to drive operational efficiency and expand access to homeownership. He has more than 25 years of financial services experience, spanning leadership roles across lending, servicing, operations, and corporate finance. Before joining Freedom Mortgage, Sheeler served as Executive Vice President of Correspondent Lending and Branch Operations at W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital. He also held multiple senior roles within JP Morgan Chase’s Correspondent Lending division, including Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Pricing and Trading Operations Manager. Earlier in his career, he worked in Warehouse Lending at Countrywide Financial and held several positions at BNP Paribas—among them divisional Chief Financial Officer, Director of International Development, and roles in Mergers and Acquisitions. He began his career at Deloitte in the Financial Services group, where he also earned his CPA. Sheeler’s impact and industry leadership have been widely recognized. He was recently named an Inman Power Player, received the HousingWire Vanguard Award, and earned the HousingWire Insider Award.