
Click the Committee title below to view the Committees
Education
With a focus on Education, Advocacy, Community, and Engagement, the WMBA Education Committee is passionate and committed to sharing information and knowledge, inspiring our membership, and positively impacting the communities we live and serve.
Offerings:
- Quarterly Education Lund & Learn series.
- School of Mortgage Banking courses in partnership with the MBA.
Chair – Andy McDonough
CMG Home Loans
Andy is passionate about advocating for and giving back to the mortgage industry and is enjoying his role as an Executive Board Member and the Chair of the Education Committee for the Washington Mortgage Bankers Association. He’s focused on continued growth and development of our members and is proud to work with the national MBA to bring the School of Mortgage Banking classes to Seattle annually.
As an energetic senior leader of the mortgage industry, he’s spent most of his 20+ years building and developing production teams, most recently serving as SVP, Divisional Production leader for HomeStreet Bank.
Outside of his day job, Andy’s passions include his family, the outdoors and producing independent documentary adventure films. ”I love hiking and camping together with my family for ski trips and visiting National Parks in our Airstream.”
Andy is incredibly energized for this opportunity through the Washington Mortgage Bankers Association to have a positive impact in the lives of our members, partners and communities we serve!
Golf
This committee makes all arrangements for the annual golf tournament, obtains sponsorships, promotes the tournament, and oversees registration.
Co-Chair – Anne Marie Bachmann
Movement Mortgage
Anne Marie’s sales, recruiting and management career spans 25 plus years and she has been recruiting exclusively within the mortgage industry since 2006. Anne Marie is in charge of Strategic Growth for Movement Mortgage in the Pacific NW. Her depth and relationships in the Pacific Northwest span many years and she has impacted many people positively in that time.
She has been an active member and volunteer for the Washington Mortgage Bankers Association since 2006 and has served on the Board in many roles including President. She currently co-chairs the golf tournament and partners with our lobbyist to raise PAC funds in her role as PAC Chair. She is an active volunteer at Holy Family Catholic Church in Kirkland.
Anne Marie is the proud Mom of a grown daughter, Kristian. She enjoys spending time with her friends and family, working out, wine tasting and dog sitting her grand dog, Gatsby.
Co-Chair – Robert Lipston
Evergreen Home Loans
Robert Lipston is the Regional Director for Flagstar Bank overseeing sales and the expansion in the Pacific Northwest.
Robert has been in the Mortgage industry since 1987 and spent the last 30+ years holding various positions of progressive responsibility in executive leadership. He most recently has spent the past 7 years establishing and growing Flagstar Bank as the Regional Director for the Pacific Northwest. Robert has a diverse set of skills and experience in sales, leadership, strategic business planning, operations management, secondary marketing, underwriting, retail mortgage banking, wholesale and correspondent lending. These skills give Robert a unique view of the industry that he is able to leverage into his daily business with his team. Robert is currently the President of the WMBA (Washington Mortgage Bankers Association), and has been actively involved on the board over the past 5 years. Robert has received numerous awards and accolades for his dedication to support his team and involvement in the mortgage community over the last few years, His most recent achievements have been named as One of the Top 100 Most Influential Mortgage Executives in America and the Mortgage Professionals Humanitarian and leadership award.
Robert resides in Auburn, WA. When he is not giving his all to his career and team, Robert spends time with his three children and always finds time for boating, classic cars and adventure.
House
The House Committee arranges and manages the monthly dinner venues, assists with special events and works in conjunction with Membership to promote the growth and involvement of new and current members and guests. This is a great starting point to find out more about the WMBA.
Co-Chair – Melanie M. Kellermann
American Reporting Company
Melanie has been with ARC for 10 years in a variety of management positions. She has an extensive background in customer service that spans over 20 years. In her current position as Operations Manager at ARC she handles the award winning team of customer service representatives that have helped grow ARC from a credit only company to a full settlement services provider. Prior to her time with ARC, she spent 8 years in the cruise industry focusing on ADA compliance, itinerary writing, database building and resolving passenger concerns post cruise.
In her free time, Melanie volunteers with Big Brother Big Sisters and enjoys travel, cooking and sailing.
Co-Chair – Mike Olden
American Reporting Company
At American Reporting Company, Mike’s primary responsibility is managing and developing new business with banks, credit unions, and mortgage bankers. Mike has worked in the mortgage banking industry since 1984 and at American Reporting Company since 1997.
Mike also helps develop and deliver educational programs related to credit reporting and credit scoring for ARC clients, non-profit housing partners, and first time homebuyers. He is certified to teach continuing education to Realtors in Washington, Oregon, and Hawaii; and has been a featured presenter to national audiences.
Mike is a former board member of the Puget Sound Mortgage Lenders Association and the Community Homeownership Center. He served on the Mortgage Bankers Association State & Local Advisory Council
Income Property
This committee keeps in contact with commercial lenders in our community, and offers a bi-monthly meeting with topics of interest to these individuals. See events page for information on upcoming events. https://wa-mba.org/events/
Co-Chair – Eric Seidenberger
Washington Federal Bank
Eric is the Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Division Manager for the state of Washington, at WaFd Bank. Business lines include disciplines of Income Property [office, industrial, multifamily, retail] and Homebuilder Finance [horizontal land development, vertical construction of ‘for sale’ housing]. Direct reports include a high-functioning team of directors (team leads), relationship managers (tenured bankers), portfolio managers (de novo bankers), and credit analysts (underwriters). Eric spends his weekends working on endless projects at his ranch on Vashon Island. Further, he and his wife enjoy traveling internationally when going on their annual vacation.
Co-Chair – Steve Cory
Fidelity National Title Company
The Seattle based Washington Commercial Closing Team provides Owners, Brokers, Lenders and Lawyers professional title insurance and escrow services. Fidelity National Title provides solutions that help customers and clients get their transactions closed smoothly and on time. We also team up to help our Clients improve their business practices, saving time & adding to their bottom line.
Programs – Michael Kot
Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson P.S.
Legal & Legislative
This committee monitors state and federal legislation that could impact our members businesses, and reports developments to the WMBA Board of Directors.
Co-Chair – Gary Fallon
Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson PS
Gary has been a lender services attorney at Hillis Clark Martin & Peterson since 1982, working with lender clients to develop efficient and cost-effective documentation for lending activities ranging from individual residential transactions to large commercial projects. He has worked through the most complicated of real estate and C & I financings, and has assisted clients with complex troubled loans ranging from large multi-state residential construction workouts to the restructuring of downtown commercial and multi-family project financings.
Gary has served as President of the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association and Associate Director of the Washington Mortgage Lenders Association. He also helped coordinate the merger of those two organizations to form the Washington Mortgage Bankers Association, where he now serves as a Director and co-chair to the legal-legislative committee. He has also been a board member of Habitat for Humanity Seattle/King County for more than a decade, and served as its President from 2011-2012.
Co-Chair – Rose Marie David
CMG Home Loans
Rose Marie David is an Executive Vice President Divisional Manager for Homebridge Financial Services. Ms. David came to Homebridge in June 2019 as part of their acquisition of the large scale retail home loan center business of HomeStreet Bank. In her current role, she leads over sales and operations for the western division that resulted from this acquisition. In her former role at HomeStreet Bank, she was the Director of Mortgage Lending responsible for growing the residential mortgage banking franchise and overseeing mortgage production, operations, and servicing. Ms. David joined HomeStreet in March 2012, coming from MetLife Home Loans where she was Pacific Northwest Regional Sales leader. She has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has worked in many aspects of mortgage banking along the way, including owning her own mortgage brokerage. Ms. David holds a B.A. in finance from the University of Utah. During her time in leadership at HomeStreet Bank, the mortgage banking volume grew over 400%, finishing in Scotsman Guide’s Top 20 Retail Mortgage Lenders from 2016-2018 and reaching #1 purchase market share in the tri-state Pacific Northwest in 2017. Ms. David’s success has come from earning and maintaining a strong relationship with her team and the community, and always putting the customer first.
Ms. David currently sits on the Ellie Mae Exec Advisory Board and the WMBA Board. She has sat in recent years on the Advisory Boards for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Xinnix. She participated in 2018 in Dave Steven’s MBA CEO Exchange and National MBA’s Residential Board of Governors (RESBOG). Ms. David also currently serves on the board of the YWCA for Seattle King and Snohomish counties. She is drawn to their mission to eliminate racism and empower women.
Membership
Co-Chair – Nichole Koenig
Rainier Title
Co-Chair – Tony Fernandez
Guild Mortgage
Tony Fernandez is a 24-year mortgage industry veteran who has held many roles in the mortgage industry including Loan Officer, Underwriter, Director of Product Development, Capital Markets Manager, and most recently, District Manager at Guild Mortgage Company. He is committed to educating people about the benefits of home ownership. Tony has been married for 23 years to his wife Trisha and has 2 children, Cruz who is 19, and Ava who is 14. In his spare time, Tony enjoys kayaking and paddle boarding, but his passion is coaching his daughter’s flag football team.
Programs
Tonja Wortham
Chair – New American Funding
Tonja Wortham is a seasoned professional with a career spanning from 1998 to current in real estate, mortgage and escrow executive leadership, sales, coaching, business development and talent acquisition. Her current role is at New American Funding supporting Tony Blodgett’s NW Region. Colleagues describe Tonja as a progressive, driven, down-to-earth, sales and networking expert with grit and tenacity who can be relied on to offer superior solutions that deliver creative solutions, profitable results while building synergy and morale in an organization.
Auction
This committee obtains donations for the annual fundraising auction, and makes all arrangements for the auction. They also help arrange the toy drive at Christmas and the food drive at Thanksgiving.
Co-Chair – Yanna Nelson
CMG Home Loans
With over 22 years in the mortgage industry as a Business Development Manager, Production and Training Manager, Mortgage Insurance Account Manager, Loan Originator in both Retail and Wholesale Lending, as well as Past President of the Seattle Mortgage Bankers Association (now WA Mortgage Bankers Association), the variety of positions I have held have given me a great depth of understanding and passion for the mortgage business. In my current role at Homebridge Financial Services, I have been able to develop and lead an incredible onboarding and training team of Originators, who have built an enviable reputation within and outside of the company by setting the standard for Loan Officer onboarding concierge service and training.
My commitment to, and reputation in the mortgage community has allowed me many great opportunities to learn and discover what I love to do most, which is to lead, teach, motivate and help others to grow and be successful. My extensive experience and love for what I do give clients, business partners, and employees the confidence and trust they deserve when navigating the mortgage business, and my ability to lead through the many challenges and opportunities we are presented.
Co-Chair – Jana Arnold
Evergreen Home Loans
Jana Arnold, a Talent Acquisition Manager began her career in the mortgage business in 1997. Holding a bachelor’s degrees in psychology and business from Washington State University, she is passionate about forming and strengthening relationships, connecting people, and making a difference in her local community. Jana has served on past WMBA committees and a multiple year board member for PSMLA. She is also actively serving on 3 non-profit boards this year. Arnold resides in Sammamish, WA with her husband and two kids.