PROGRESS In Lending Association was formed to help lending executives grow their business by boiling down the latest news and trends into sound strategies. This company is run by industry veterans that have come together to make a positive difference for our readers.
To be direct, these seasoned executives genuinely care about the state of our industry. Further, together they have over 100 years of lending experience in all sides of the business. Meet Our Team:
Tony Garritano
Tony Garritano is chairman and founder at PROGRESS in Lending Association. As a speaker Tony has worked hard to inform executives about how technology should be a tool used to further business objectives. For over 20 years he has worked as a journalist, researcher and speaker in the mortgage technology space. Starting PROGRESS in Lending Association was the next step for someone like Tony, who has dedicated his entire career to providing mortgage executives with the information that they need to make informed technology decisions to help their businesses succeed.
Michael Hammond
Michael Hammond is the founder and president of NexLevel Advisors. NexLevel provides solutions in business development, strategic selling, marketing, public relations and social media. A seasoned technology executive, Michael brings close to two decades of leadership, management, marketing, sales and technical product and services experience. His expertise spans start-ups to multi-billion dollar corporations, running businesses, business units, marketing, sales, strategy and product and services organizations. Michael brings exceptional insight, leadership, passion, and strategies that create profitability.
Molly Dowdy
As the co-founder of NEXT Mortgage Events, Molly Dowdy has provided a platform with summits for women executives in the mortgage industry. At these summits, high-ranking women execs meet to share competitive intel on lending technology that translates to faster implementation times, higher customer engagement and faster closings. Molly believes that no matter what the market is doing, there are technological and process improvements to be had.
Eric Kujala
Eric Kujala started at Flagstar Bank as a home loan advisor in 2002 with responsibility for originating new residential mortgage business for Flagstar Bank’s Direct Lending department. In 2003, he was named team leader in the department, and in 2004 he was appointed assistant vice president, responsible for the entire Direct Lending sales team. He was promoted to vice president in 2006. In 2008, he joined DocVelocity, the flagship product of Paperless Office Solutions, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Flagstar Bancorp, where in 2013 Flagstar Bank sold the subsidiary to its long term partner Capsilon Corporation, which was recently sold to Ellie Mae where he is currently their Director, Product Marketing.
Kelli Himebaugh
Kelli Himebaugh is a valued member of the Executive Team here at PROGRESS in Lending and is Chief Revenue Officer at Constellation Mortgage Solutions, a leading provider of LOS technology and delivery automation to the mortgage banking and financial services industries. She was named one of The Most Powerful Women in Fintech by PROGRESS in Lending Association. She is a true industry thought leader that always speaks out in favor of smart automation and process improvement. Kelli is a proven sales leader with more than 20 years of housing finance experience and 10 years of mortgage technology experience.