People in the News, Dec. 4, 2025
(Kristy Fercho)
LERETA Adds Kristy Fercho to Board of Directors
LERETA, Pomona, Calif., has added Kristy Fercho to its board of directors.
Fercho is currently SEVP, head of financial inclusion and opportunity at Wells Fargo.
She has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the industry, and previously served as Mortgage Bankers Association chair.
Polunsky Beitel Green Taps Prasad Kodibagkar as Chief Technology Officer
Polunsky Beitel Green, San Antonio, announced that Prasad Kodibagkar has joined as chief technology officer.
Kodibagkar has more than three decades of experience modernizing technology across the mortgage industry.
He has previously worked for Mr. Cooper, Rushmore and Wells Fargo Home Lending Technology. Most recently, he served as a consultant in mortgage-focused, AI, digital and data strategy.
MCT Hires Director of AI Solutions
Mortgage Capital Trading, San Diego, announced the addition of Rick Chakra as director of AI solutions.
Chakra has been a key strategic partner to MCT since 2024, guiding the company in the build-out of Atlas, the company’s generative AI adviser, and consulting on AI development practices.
Before joining MCT he worked in Deloitte’s Applied AI for Financial Services practice. He also currently serves as adjunct faculty at the University of North Carolina Charlotte’s school of data science.
FirstClose Adds Adam Nicholson as Director of Professional Services
FirstClose, Austin, Texas, has added Adam Nicholson as director of professional services.
Nicholson will lead the company’s implementation operations, including project delivery, process optimization and cross-functional coordination.
He has more than 12 years of experience directing implementation, customer success and professional services teams within the fintech sector, previously serving as an enterprise client success manager at Blend.
Guaranteed Rate Affinity Promotes Jaime Joyce to Chief Operations, Strategy Officer
Guaranteed Rate Affinity, Chicago, announced the promotion of Jaime Joyce to chief operations and strategy officer.
Joyce has more than two decades of experience in the industry, beginning as a processor in 2002.
She was most recently executive vice president of operations and previously led the nationwide rollout of Guaranteed Rate Affinity’s Same Day Mortgage program.
CMG Home Loans Adds Goran Marich
CMG Home Loans, a division of CMG Financial, San Ramon, Calif., appointed Goran Marich as an area sales manager in Northeast Ohio.
Marich previously worked at Conseco Finance, and was the founder of Equity Consultants, later known as EC Financial.
He also has held leadership roles at Guaranteed Rate, Revolution Mortgage and Movement Mortgage.
