Tulsa's elite women in mortgage named

Mortgage Professional America today released the Elite Women 2017 report recognizing Tulsa-based Jennifer Zwick of TTCU The Credit Union and Kristen Sieffert of Finance of America Reverse, among 75 female professionals who are breaking the status quo as they become the industry’s top leaders and executives.

From an overwhelming number of nominations received nationwide, MPA culled the list to 75 women who are slowly changing the face of the American mortgage industry. 25% of the women on this list hold top C-suite or leadership positions, including founders and owners of their own companies and brokerages.

“In an industry where majority of leadership roles are still male-dominated, the women on this list are slowly changing the game,” said Heather Turner, MPA journalist. “This year’s elite women have overcome obstacles and broken through barriers to become some of the industry’s top professionals. They are the innovators, mentors, and trendsetters who inspire the success of their peers every day and are ultimately influencing to change the face of this industry.”

Jennifer Zwick

Jennifer Zwick landed in the mortgage industry after a restructuring of her department at the university where she worked; today, she is entering her fifth year as the mortgage operations manager for TTCU Federal Credit Union, where she oversees the loan coordinating, processing and closing divisions.

On top of these responsibilities, Zwick also serves as project manager for the credit union’s recent conversion to a new mortgage system. Over the last two years, she completed the groundwork needed for the transition, including ensuring compliance with new TRID regulations and preparing the entire mortgage department to move to a paperless process.

Zwick was also responsible for the efficient addition of a new product to the credit union’s portfolio, managing to shorten the time needed to build the product from six weeks to four business days.

Outside of her day job, Zwick serves on the board of women’s ministry at her church and participates in mission work. She has traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, to work with House of Grace, a group that rescues girls in danger of being sold into trafficking by their own families.

Kristen Sieffert

It has been an eventful couple of years for Kristen Sieffert. After serving as COO of Finance of America Reverse since 2012, she became president in late 2015, shortly before giving birth to her second child. “[Last year] was my first full year serving as FAR’s president; I had a lot to learn and big shoes to fill,” she says.

She attributes her success to the support of the teams within the lending channel and at the corporate level, as well as to her husband, who enabled her to commit to her new role on top of being a wife and mother. To pass on that support, she has helped create a family-centered work environment within the company that supports work-life balance.

Over the past 12 months, Sieffert has led the company to increase its profitability by 35%, thus solidifying its position as a top reverse mortgage lender. She is also pioneering an effort to educate forward mortgage originators on the benefits of reverse mortgages, and has begun an innovative program with Finance of America Mortgage [FAM]. The program has generated a tremendous amount of excitement among FAM advisors and is beginning to positively impact the company’s bottom line.

Sieffert was also recently appointed to the board of directors for the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association and has served on the ethics and HUD issues committees for the industry group.