The 21st Five Star Conference marked its final day on Thursday with the tradition of the Women in Housing Leadership Awards, an annual presentation recognizing the remarkable accomplishments of women executives working within the mortgage and housing industries.
Following brief welcome remarks from Ali Haralson, President of Auction.com (Lead Sponsor of the event), Ed Delgado, AMP, Managing Director, Mortgage Policy Advisors and Chairman Emeritus, Five Star Global, was introduced. Delgado, who was instrumental in the creation of the Women in Housing tradition at Five Star Conference, also noted that the Five Star Institute was developing plans for a women’s leadership industry council that will help guide the WIH programming in the years to come. Delgado then passed the baton to this year’s emcee, Jodi Gaines, CEO of Claims Recovery Financial Services (CRFS).
A distinguished leader with 35 years of experience in the mortgage industry, Jodi Gaines began her career as a claims clerk at Anchor Mortgage, rapidly advancing through management to become Assistant VP and Officer at North American Mortgage Company. In 2002, Gaines co-founded Claims Recovery Financial Services (CRFS), a prominent investor and government claim services provider, which she initially established from her kitchen table. Under her leadership, CRFS grew to become an industry leader, employing over 600 individuals. In 2019, Gaines joined Insight One Solutions as Chief Client Officer, Executive VP of Business Development and Government Relations. In February 2024, she returned to CRFS as CEO and Owner. Gaines has been recognized for her contributions with several prestigious awards, including the Five Star Women in Housing Laurie A. Maggiano Legacy Award in 2023.
Gaines next moderated the “Inside the She-Suite” panel, bringing several of the industry’s top-ranking women executives together to address the challenges and share the inspirational successes they’ve encountered throughout their careers. This year’s She-Suite panel included:
- Yvette Gilmore, SVP, Servicing Product Strategy, ServiceLink
- Erum Nayani, SVP, General Counsel, BSI Financial Services
- Shubha Shivapurkar, Sr. Director, Loss Mitigation, Freddie Mac
- Dr. Phyllis Wright, SVP, Strategic Human Resources, VRM Mortgage Services
The program closed out as Gaines presented the Awards to this year’s recipients, across five categories.
The Rising Star Executive Award recognizes young women leaders who, while still early in their careers, have demonstrated an outstanding capability to lead and drive progress. Candidates for this honor must have no more than 10 years of industry experience. (You can see all 25 finalists listed in our previous coverage here.) This year’s Rising Star Executive Award went to Kathryn Walterman, Manager of Default Administration, Mountain America Federal Credit Union.
The Leadership by Example Award recognizes those working to empower and promote women in leadership positions and diversity within their companies. This year’s Leadership by Example Award went to Aubrey Gilmore Halim, President, Rutledge Claims Management, Inc.
Next up was the Keys in Hand Award, which spotlights industry executives working to expand homeownership in America, especially for first-time homeowners, providing them with a critical source of intergenerational wealth. This year’s recipient was Tai Christensen, President, Arrive Home. Christensen could not attend the ceremony, so her award was accepted by Gina Gallutia, Executive Director of Memberships for the Five Star Institute. Christensen also serves as the Chair of Five Star’s American Mortgage Diversity Council, which provides a platform for the collaboration of mortgage industry leaders for the advancement of diversity and inclusion dialogue.
The Corporate Social Responsibility Award recognizes executives who are driving charitable initiatives and helping the industry make a positive difference. This year’s award recipient was Tiffany Fletcher, SVP, Compliance and Operations Support, VRM Mortgage Services.
The final award of the day presented was the Laurie A. Maggiano Legacy Award, named for the late industry icon who served as Servicing and Secondary Markets Program Manager at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) before passing away in 2018. The Laurie A. Maggiano Legacy Award recognizes women whose accomplishments have left an indelible impact on the industry and have positively influenced homeownership within the past year. This year the Maggiano award was presented to Donna Spencer, VP of Servicing Relationship and Performance Management at Freddie Mac.
This year’s Women in Housing Leadership Awards Luncheon was supported by Lead Sponsor Auction.com and Partner Sponsors ServiceLink, VRM Mortgage Services, and XOME.
