#MBAAnnual22: MBA Swears in 2023 Officers: Matt Rocco, Mark Jones, Laura Escobar
((l-r) MBA Chairman Matt Rocco, Chairman-Elect Mark Jones and Vice Chair Laura Escobar are sworn in during MBA Annual 22 Sunday in Nashville.)
NASHVILLE—Matt Rocco, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Grandbridge Real Estate Capital, Charlotte, N.C., was sworn in Sunday as Chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association during its 2022 Annual Convention & Expo.
“It is an honor and a privilege to represent the real estate finance industry as the next Chairman for the MBA,” Rocco said. “I look forward to working with Mark Jones and Laura Escobar on important issues facing our industry, including the higher interest rate environment, housing affordability for homeowners and renters and closing the racial homeownership gap. I am committed to strengthening MBA’s affordable housing initiatives and identifying key solutions that will help communities across the country have access to equitable housing.”
In his roles with Grandbridge, Rocco’s leadership responsibilities include the company’s overall corporate strategy and governance as well as its integration and operations within Truist Bank. He joined Grandbridge, a subsidiary of Truist Bank, in 1998. He is currently a member of the firm’s Board of Managers, Senior Leadership Team and Risk Committee, where his responsibilities include corporate initiatives and Grandbridge’s overall loan origination efforts, as well as the company’s Agency Underwriting (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA) and Balance Sheet Closing Groups.
Rocco is an active MBA member and currently sits on the association’s Commercial Real Estate Finance Board of Governors (COMBOG). A graduate of MBA’s Future Leaders Program, he has also participated on MBA’s Origination Council and DUS Peer Group. In addition to being an active member of MBA and the Mortgage Action Alliance, he is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, NAIOP, Urban Land Institute, National Multi-Housing Council and Pension Real Estate Association.
Mark Jones, CEO and Co-Founder of Amerifirst Home Mortgage, Kalamazoo, Mich.; and Laura Escobar, President of Lennar Mortgage, Miami, were also sworn in today as Chairman-Elect and Vice Chair, respectively.
Jones co-founded Amerifirst Home Mortgage in 1983 and has overseen the company’s growth from a single site in Kalamazoo to more than 80 locations and 900 employees across the country, making it one of Inc. 5000’s “Fastest-Growing Private Companies in America” for six years in a row. Amerifirst is the No. 1 USDA rural housing lender and No. 3 FHA lender in Michigan, and manages a $6 billion servicing portfolio.
Jones currently serves as MBA Chair of the Audit Committee and is a member of the IMB Executive Committee (which he previously co-chaired), the State Relations Committee, the Rural Housing Working Group and the MORPAC Committee. He was also a member of MBA’s 2019-2020 Board of Directors.
Escobar is a 35-year real estate finance industry veteran who has held leadership positions with both bank-owned and independent mortgage companies overseeing all aspects of mortgage banking. Since 2018, she has been President of Lennar Mortgage, the mortgage lending subsidiary of Lennar Corp., leading a team of more than 1,100 associates in 34 locations across 20 states. Escobar joined Lennar Mortgage in 2002 as Branch Manager; in 2004, she was promoted to Senior Vice President managing the Eastern Region; and in 2016, she became Executive Vice President, overseeing operations and production of the company’s Builder Division.
Escobar currently serves on several advisory boards and committees, including MBA’s 2021-2022 Board of Directors, as Co-Chair of MBA’s IMB Executive Council, and as Vice Chair of the Mortgage Action Alliance. She is also a member of the MORPAC Steering Committee; Fannie Mae AHAC; Freddie Mac Advisory Board; NAHREP; NAMMBA Visionary Ambassador; and United Way’s chapter – Women United.
