The 2026 Trailblazers Award Winners Are …

Sales, marketing and public relations executives are blazing a trail that is determining the biggest winners in financial services. On the sales side, research from the University of Pennsylvania shows that more than 50% of buyers still seek advice when making a purchase. As a result, educated and engaged sales associates who can meet buyers’ needs—especially who have knowledge about a specific product—ring up sales that on average bring in 69% more money. Similarly on the marketing side, a savvy business owner realizes that in order to grow, they need to make more people aware of their product or service. This means engaging with a marketing professional to help promote the business, bring in new clientele, and ensure that current customers are aware of all the products and services. Lastly, everyone wants to become the go-to organization in your field, right? For that to happen, you need to build your credibility and bring your expertise and knowledge into the limelight. That’s exactly what public relations executives bring to the table.

These executives work tirelessly to ensure their company/client is a true leader, but they themselves don’t always get recognized. That ends today. For the 7th year, PROGRESS in Lending is recognizing the Top Sales, Marketing and Public Relations Executives that are making the biggest impact. Our winners in alphabetical order are:

Rosalie Berg

President

Strategic Vantage Marketing & Public Relations

As president of Strategic Vantage Marketing & Public Relations, Rosalie Berg helps companies in the real estate finance industry strengthen their market position and convert that visibility into real business results. Over the past year, she and her team have executed highly targeted initiatives across public relations, branding, marketing, and social media, helping companies of all sizes generate stronger pipelines, secure more meetings, and move opportunities through the sales process more efficiently. During the 2025 calendar year, Strategic Vantage delivered over 370 earned media placements, 60 press releases, 40 thought leadership pieces, 38 email campaigns, 34 social media campaigns, 24 industry awards, and 8 new website launches. These efforts have materially increased client visibility and credibility, creating a meaningful advantage in competitive sales environments. That impact is best reflected in client outcomes.

For instance, Rosalie implemented a coordinated strategy for Breza Law, a professional services firm serving the mortgage industry, that combined brand positioning, email marketing, and social media campaigns. Those efforts became “a true growth catalyst for our firm,” according to Scott Breza, the firm’s managing partner. Rosalie and her team have also helped elevate the visibility of both Cornerstone Capital Bank and Cornerstone Servicing, ensuring the brands remain consistently present in front of key industry audiences. Through a steady cadence of media placements, thought leadership, and award recognition, Strategic Vantage has reinforced Cornerstone’s position as a credible and visible leader, strengthening perception among prospects, partners, and recruits, and supporting continued growth. Over the past 12 months, Rosalie and her team also continued the transformation of DLS Servicing and its affiliated platform, WaterfallCalc. What began as a business with limited market visibility evolved into a recognized thought leader in default servicing operations. Rosalie and her team repositioned the brand, rebuilt its digital presence, and launched a coordinated strategy across webinars, email marketing, LinkedIn content, and media outreach. Strategic Vantage focuses on aligning positioning, messaging, and visibility with how buyers actually make decisions. By helping clients establish credibility before outreach begins, the team enables sales organizations to operate more effectively, leading to stronger conversations, higher conversion rates, and a more efficient path to revenue.

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Ross Blackmon

SVP, National Sales

First American Mortgage Solutions

One of the most impactful accomplishments Ross has spearheaded has been the transformation of a traditional sales organization into a customer-centric, innovation-driven growth engine. As Head of National Sales for First American’s Lender Division, he has championed a “process over persuasion” philosophy — shifting the focus from transactional selling to long-term value creation for customers. This approach has directly contributed to measurable gains in market share across key solution areas, including document generation and valuation services. A defining initiative under his leadership was the implementation of a division-wide Net Promoter Score (NPS) program. By embedding customer feedback into operational and sales strategies, he ensured that customer experience became a core performance driver. The result has been sustained NPS scores above 75, placing the organization among world-class brands and creating a continuous feedback loop that informs product development, service delivery, and customer engagement. He has also played a critical role in advancing innovative solutions such as Clear2Go®, Sequoia, and AI-driven capabilities that improve title manufacturing speed, accuracy, and scalability.

These initiatives have not only enhanced internal efficiencies but have helped lenders reduce cycle times, improve data integrity, and deliver better borrower experiences. Beyond internal impact, his leadership has influenced the broader industry by addressing systemic challenges. For example, he led efforts to help lenders navigate regulatory changes around lien releases, leveraging First American’s extensive property data to improve documentation accuracy and reduce closing times. Through a combination of strategic vision, operational discipline, and a laser focus on customer outcomes, he has elevated both his organization’s performance and the industry’s standard for what modern sales leadership can achieve.

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Romina Cusenza

VP of Marketing

ACES Quality Management

As head of the marketing team, Romina Cusenza led ACES Quality Management’s 2025 go-to-market and communications strategy during one of the most challenging mortgage environments in recent history. Despite subdued origination volumes across the industry, ACES maintained audit scale, expanded its client base and advanced AI-driven quality control. Under her leadership, marketing supported record platform utilization and visibility for ACES solutions. In 2025 alone, ACES processed approximately 8.6 million loans through its platform, further strengthening its role in daily quality control and risk management. ACES’ customer footprint underscores the company’s enterprise scale and influence across the industry, supporting over 70% of the top 20 independent mortgage lenders, 7 of the top 10 loan servicers, 14 of the top 30 banks, and 7 of the top 15 U.S. credit unions. Marketing and sales alignment also contributed to growth among leading financial institutions, including multiple top-20 credit unions, top-20 international banks, and major service providers. A cornerstone initiative was the launch and promotion of ACES Intelligence™, the mortgage industry’s first AI-powered quality control engine. Romina spearheaded the positioning, messaging, and industry education campaign, translating AI capabilities, such as natural-language loan selection (Criteria Builder), automated exception-writing support (Writing Assistant), executive audit summaries, and real-time PII detection, into clear business outcomes for lenders.

Early users also reported meaningful time savings and productivity gains, reinforcing the real-world value of AI-enabled QC workflows. • The top 5 visited landing pages during the launch were ACES Intelligence. • Over 26% of our client base has been leveraging ACES Intelligence since September 2025. • Over 420,000 feature interactions since Sept 2025 and • Over 3000 views of our video commercial and over 139 views of our success story promo video. In parallel, she led marketing strategy for the general availability of ACES DATABRIDGE, advancing ACES’ enterprise data strategy by enabling customers to extract, manage, and report on ACES data using their own tools and environments, including secure exports to client-controlled data warehouses. This initiative reinforced ACES’ positioning not only as a QC platform but as a data-driven enterprise risk solution. Romina also elevated ACES’ industry benchmarking and compliance intelligence authority by expanding promotion of the free Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports and QC Now webinars, providing lenders and servicers with data-driven insight into defect trends, underwriting performance and emerging quality risks.

In 2025, ACES reviewed 245 regulatory publications and published 379 Compliance NewsHub articles along with 81 regulatory calendar items to help financial professionals track evolving requirements. Marketing played a key role in distributing and packaging this content to maximize client engagement and reinforce ACES’ leadership in compliance intelligence. • Experienced a 45% increase in website visits compared to the previous year • 38% increase in direct traffic from 2024 to 2025 • Produced 7 webinars in 2025 with over 1200 on-demand views • Produced 6 customer success stories Romina’s integrated campaign strategy also supported ACES ENGAGE, the company’s annual conference that brings together quality control, risk management and compliance professionals for peer learning and collaboration. At ACES ENGAGE 2025, ACES officially launched the “I Stand for Quality” movement as the event’s centerpiece, mobilizing attendees around a shared commitment to quality-driven lending and servicing practices and reinforcing ACES’ leadership in operational excellence and regulatory integrity. • There was an 11% increase in ACES ENGAGE attendees compared to the previous year • and 4% increase in account representation. This event, alongside the “I Stand for Quality” movement, further strengthened ACES’ brand as a champion for higher lending standards across the industry. In early 2026, marketing supported communications around ACES’ acquisition of BaseCap Analytics, expanding ACES’ platform to include enterprise-wide data quality automation and strengthening its end-to-end quality management story. By clearly articulating how the integration enhances automation, data validation and risk management, Romina ensured that the market understood the strategic value of the combined platform. Collectively, these initiatives strengthened ACES’ market position, accelerated the adoption of AI-driven quality control and delivered actionable intelligence to lenders navigating an evolving regulatory and defect landscape.

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Rick Grant

Co-Founder & COO

Content Beacon

Rick has been a sales, marketing and PR trailblazer since before the industry acknowledged the existence of content marketing, and he’s been a vital element of its recent evolution and adoption. Rick spent years as a highly regarded journalist and managing editor across several prominent real estate finance publications before most mortgage lenders had any real framework for thinking about content as a marketing tool. That journalism background gave him a unique understanding of what industry professionals actually want to read and why they stop reading when something feels like a sales pitch dressed up as editorial. That foundation drove him to co-found Content Beacon, the first agency in the mortgage and real estate space to build its entire practice around B2B content marketing for mortgage lenders.

In the years since, Rick has become a widely-known and well-respected PR expert and content marketer, frequently hosting or making guest appearances on a number of industry podcasts as well as creating unique and compelling original content for clients throughout the industry. Under Rick’s vision, Content Beacon’s model is straightforward: understand what a client is actually trying to accomplish, build a program around that goal and put quality content in front of the people who make buying decisions. Rick has been executing variations of that approach for more than two decades across podcasts, webinars, white papers, video and long-form editorial. He’s been one of those at the forefront of making content marketing a credible, proven discipline in an industry that once treated it as a secondary concern.

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Michael Hammond

Founder & CEO

NexLevel Advisors

Michael Hammond, Founder & CEO of NexLevel Advisors, is the leading fractional CMO in mortgage and mortgage technology, specializing in AI-powered growth strategy and audience development. He helps mortgage and fintech brands win in a market where trust is the real growth engine and AI is changing how buyers discover expertise. Known for combining strategic clarity with bold market insight, Michael helps companies build authority, sharpen positioning, and create audience-driven growth that compounds over time. As host of the FinTech Hunting Podcast and AI in Lending Podcast, and a recognized industry thought leader, he continues to challenge leaders to rethink how they compete, communicate, and grow in the new era of financial services.

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Amber Milkeris

National Marketing Manager

Certainty Home Lending

Amber has helped build Certainty Home Lending’s marketing function from the inside out. During her time with them, she has developed and scaled digital campaigns, coordinated more than 50 events annually and contributed to the kind of consistent brand presence that earns credibility with referral partners and recruits alike. What makes Amber’s work notable is the range: she operates comfortably across campaign strategy, content, event execution and cross-functional collaboration. For a growing lender competing in a market where brand identity often gets deprioritized, her ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously while keeping quality consistent has helped Certainty show up professionally at every level of the market.

Amber sees marketing’s role in mortgage lending as something that goes well beyond lead generation. As the industry works through a period of compressed margins and heightened competition for both borrowers and talent, she is focused on building the kind of authentic brand presence that supports recruiting, retention and referral relationships at the same time. She also brings a mentorship orientation to her work, which may prove just as valuable as any campaign metric when it comes to developing marketing capability within lending organizations. Amber’s approach is grounded in execution rather than theory, and that combination of creative thinking and operational discipline positions her well to help Certainty grow through the recovery.

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Adrea Reed

VP of Marketing

Citywide Home Mortgage

When Adrea joined Citywide Home Mortgage, the company had real ambition but needed a marketing strategy to match it. That demanded a full repositioning of the brand around a clear, repeatable idea: that Citywide could offer the product depth of a national lender while still delivering the kind of individual attention that larger institutions often struggle to provide. That message found an audience. Citywide’s LinkedIn following grew substantially and engagement doubled, and an early YouTube initiative drew more than 11,000 views in its first week. Perhaps more importantly, the company expanded its licensed footprint to all 50 states during this period, with Adrea’s team supporting 33 new branch openings. In a market that has been difficult for most mortgage companies, that kind of growth likely doesn’t happen without a brand foundation built to scale.

As many in the industry already understand, mortgage marketing is going through a genuine transition, one that’s being shaped less by any single new tool and more by a shift in how borrowers and lending professionals actually consume information. Adrea’s approach accounts for that reality. She’s focused on building a communications strategy that works across multiple channels simultaneously, rather than betting everything on one platform or format, because today’s audience tends to encounter a brand in fragments before forming any real impression. For Citywide specifically, that means continuing to invest in public relations, social content and digital media in a way that stays flexible enough to adapt as conditions change. Authenticity sits at the center of that strategy. Adrea believes that in a high-stakes transaction like a home purchase, a brand that communicates honestly and consistently will eventually earn more durable trust than one that simply spends more. Although that’s rarely a flashy proposition, it’s proven to be one that holds up over time.

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Brian Rieger

CEO

Content Beacon

Brian Rieger has been a driving force behind the mortgage industry’s shift toward modern content-driven marketing and thought leadership. Through his firm, True Impact Communications, and as co-founder of Content Beacon, Brian has helped lenders, fintech providers, title companies, and industry consultants move beyond traditional marketing tactics and instead adopt strategies centered on education, credibility, and long-term brand authority. Early in his career, Brian recognized that while other industries were investing heavily in content marketing, the mortgage and settlement services sectors were lagging behind. In response, he helped pioneer a model that encourages companies to build influence through high-quality editorial content, including blogs, contributed articles, podcasts, white papers, and video, all designed to position subject matter experts as trusted voices in the industry. Through Content Beacon, Brian built a scalable platform that allows industry leaders to consistently produce and distribute this type of content, helping them communicate their expertise to lenders, regulators, technology partners, and consumers. The initiative has provided executives across the mortgage ecosystem with a structured way to share ideas, influence policy discussions, and shape conversations around the future of housing finance.

At the same time, through True Impact Communications, Brian has directly helped numerous organizations refine their messaging, secure coverage in leading trade publications, and develop marketing strategies that drive real business results. His clients have appeared in top industry outlets, including HousingWire, National Mortgage News, Scotsman Guide, and others, helping them build credibility with both customers and partners. The impact of Brian’s work extends beyond individual companies. By championing thought leadership and high-quality editorial marketing, he has helped elevate the quality of conversation across the mortgage and real estate industries. Companies that once relied primarily on product promotion are now sharing insights about technology, regulation, compliance, and the future of lending, creating a more informed marketplace and stronger industry dialogue. In short, Brian Rieger has helped reshape how mortgage and housing finance companies communicate with the market. His initiatives have enabled organizations across the industry to become more visible, more credible, and more influential. He has had an impact that continues to benefit both the companies he works with and the broader housing finance ecosystem.

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Anna Stanley

Account Supervisor

William Mills Agency

A strong PR professional blends strategic thinking, communication expertise, and sound ethical judgment all while staying composed under pressure. Anna Stanley exemplifies these qualities. With nearly 20 years in public relations, Anna brings exceptional writing and speaking skills to every engagement. She crafts clear, concise, and audience-focused messages that deliver results. By staying ahead of industry trends and emerging issues, she sharpens her insight and drives success for her clients. Her deep knowledge of the mortgage and fintech sectors has made her a vital part of William Mills Agency’s account services team and a trusted source for media and clients alike. Over her career, Anna has represented more than 30 clients, aligning innovative stories, strategies, and campaigns with their business goals. She understands how to build both day-to-day visibility and enduring reputation. Anna proactively develops timely, well-targeted story pitches and maintains message consistency across all channels while adjusting tone to match each audience. She also equips subject matter experts with precise talking points to ensure clarity and confidence in interviews.

In an ever-evolving media environment, Anna adapts quickly to shifting news cycles refining messages and strategies as needed. Clients rely on her for strategic counsel that is both practical and principled. Her professionalism, discretion, and strong relationships with reporters, analysts, influencers, and executives enable her to secure impactful coverage that enhances credibility and strengthens brands. Anna’s focus remains on earning her clients’ trust and sustaining their loyalty through thoughtful, results-driven PR campaigns. She is dedicated to broadening awareness of her clients’ products and educating their audiences about innovations new to the market.

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Laila Stout

Director of Marketing

Usherpa

Usherpa is one of the most innovative companies in the mortgage industry. That can be a real challenge for a marketing executive. Fortunately, Laila Stout brings her 14 years of experience as a marketing strategist, including her time as the Mortgage Marketing Manager for Independent Financial in Dallas, to this problem. Here’s a case in point: In 2025, Usherpa released its award-winning Pipelines technology, a set of customizable, Kanban-style task flows built into Usherpa’s SmartCRM. They provide loan officers with out-of-the-box workflows, featuring email, call, text, direct mail, and more, to guide them through every stage of the sales cycle. In effect, it allowed every loan officer in the company to perform like the very top performers. Some marketing automation tools had been available to the industry for some time, but nothing that put this much power into the hands of lenders and their loan officers. Usherpa needed to find some way to let the industry know what it could do for them. Laila created the campaign, which included social media, public relations, email marketing, blogging, advertising, and more. The result: Pipelines has won numerous awards and lenders have embraced it, seeing an average 28% increase in closed loans as a result. That’s a win for the company and the industry.

Laila believes that marketing that moves with the market isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about being tuned in. It’s about showing clients that you understand not just who they are, but what they’re navigating right now. That kind of relevance builds confidence. And confidence builds relationships. Stout works with senior management at Usherpa’s Enterprise Clients to develop and refine marketing strategies tailored to their unique business goals. By aligning clients’ marketing initiatives with Usherpa’s powerful automation tools, she helps lenders enhance engagement, increase conversions, and drive long-term success. This is allowing Usherpa lender clients to keep pace with the market and grow, resulting in 2025 additional revenue for enterprise partners in excess of $2.5 billion.