Every year, a group of mortgage and finance professionals quietly do the work that makes homeownership possible for millions of people. They navigate rate shifts, regulatory changes, and market uncertainty. And they still find ways to innovate, lead, and show up for their clients and communities.

The Inman Best of Finance Awards exist to recognize them.

This isn't about the loudest voices in the room. It's about the people and companies who have earned the trust of borrowers, pushed the industry forward, and raised the bar for what great looks like in mortgage and finance.

The 2026 Inman Best of Finance Award Winners

Josh Adler, President and CEO, AmeriHome Mortgage Company

Pavan Agarwal, CEO, Sun West Mortgage Company

Dawar Alimi, Founder, CEO and President, Lender Price

Kathryn Amor, SVP, Head of Enterprise Products, Rate

Duane Andrews, Co-founder and CEO, Clear Capital

Rick and Patty Arvielo, Co-founders and CEOs, New American Funding

AJ Barkley, Head of CRA and Neighborhood and Community Lending, Bank of America

Nicole Beattie, CEO, Rocket Close

Sean Black, Co-founder and CEO, Knock

Sam Bobley, Co-founder and CEO, Ocrolus

Timothy Bowler, President, ICE Mortgage Technology, ICE

Peter Bowman, Co-founder and CEO, Flueid

Patrick Boyaggi, Co-founder and CEO, Own Up

Jay Bray, CEO, Rocket Mortgage.

Michael Bremer, CEO, Calque

Jason Bressler, CTO, United Wholesale Mortgage

Jason Buchanan, Chief Credit and Risk Officer, Blue Federal Credit Union

Sean Buckner, President and CEO, Informative Research

Patrick Burns, Vice President, Product Management, Spruce

Keith Canter, CEO, First Community Mortgage

Adam Carmel, Founder and CEO, Polly

Chris Cartwright, President and CEO, TransUnion

Mark Casale, Chairman and CEO, Essent

Tanya Ceperley, SVP of Mergers & Acquisitions, First American

Brent Chandler, Founder and CEO, FormFree

Victor Ciardelli, President and CEO, Rate

Bill Cosgrove, CEO, Union Home Mortgage

Casey Crawford, Co-founder and CEO, Movement Mortgage

Brian Cullen, CEO, SingleSource

Court Cunningham, Co-founder and CEO, Orchard

Rutul Davé, Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Maxwell

Justin Demola, President, Lenders One Cooperative

Michael Dubeck, President and CEO, Planet Home Lending

Sean Dugan, CEO, Dark Matter Technologies

Spencer Dusebout, Founder and CEO, Aidium Mortgage CRM

Tony Eelman, President, Amerant Mortgage

Matt Ellis, SVP, PointServ

Frederick Eppinger, CEO, Stewart Title

Laura Escobar, President, Lennar Mortgage

Shmulik Fishman, Founder and CEO, Argyle

Graham Fleming, CEO, Finance of America

Jane Fraser, CEO, Citi

Neil Fraser, Director of U.S. Operations, Paradatec

Rian Furey, President, Zillow Home Loans

Vishal Garg, Founder and CEO, Better

Tushar Garg, Co-founder and CEO, Flyhomes

Christopher George, President and CEO, CMG Financial

Nima Ghamsari, Co-Founder and Chief Executive, Blend

Jeffrey Glass, Co-founder and CEO, Hometap

Jaime Gow, CFO, Sagent

Sean Grzebin, CEO of Home Lending, Chase

Rohit Gupta, President and CEO, Enact

Jonathon Haddad, CEO, Association of Independent Mortgage Experts

Kelley Hailstone, President, Jet HomeLoans

Tim Heyl, Founder and CEO, Homeward

Lane Hornung, Co-founder and CEO, zavvie

Anthony Hsieh, President, Executive Chairman and Interim CEO, LoanDepot

Michael Isaacs, CEO, Go Mortgage

Mat Ishbia, Chairman, President and CEO, United Wholesale Mortgage

Steve Jacobson, CEO, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation

Doug Jones, President and Chief Mortgage Banking Officer, Pennymac

Robert Karraa, President, DataTrace

Katie King, Chief Risk Officer, Head of Partnerships, Gateless

Aaron King, Founder and Executive Chairman, Snapdocs

Jay Kingsley, President, Cotality

Pat Kinsel, Founder and CEO, Proof

Kirill Klokov, CEO, Truv

Mike Kortas, CEO, NEXA Mortgage

Varun Krishna, CEO, Rocket Companies

Doug Lebda, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, LendingTree

Owen Lee, Co-owner, CEO, Success Mortgage Partners

Andrew Leff, SVP, Head of National Business Development, Evergreen Home Loans

Shelley Leonard, President, Xactus

Ron Leonhardt, Founder and CEO, CrossCountry Mortgage

Eddie Lim, Co-founder, Point

Robert Lipston, Executive Vice President, Head of Production, Evergreen Home Loans

Landy Liu, CEO, Foyer

Nathan Long, CEO, Veterans United Home Loans

Mike Lyons, CEO, Fiserv

Ben Madick, Co-founder and CEO, Matic

Steve Majerus, CEO, Synergy One Lending

Shawn Malhotra, CTO, Rocket Companies

Patrick Markert, Founder and CEO, AmeriSave Mortgage Corporation

Chris Martin, Head of Business Development, Lender

Scott Martino, CEO, Endpoint

Tim Mattke, CEO, MGIC

Gary Maughan, EVP, Mortgage Banking Director, CIBM Mortgage

Christopher Mayer, CEO, Longbridge Financial

Scott McCall, President and CEO, Title Resources Group

Dietrich Kuhlmann, President and CEO, Navy Federal Credit Union

Glen Messina, Chair, President and CEO, Onity

Greg Middleman, Executive Vice President, Freedom Mortgage

Stan Middleman, Founder, Senior Executive, Freedom Mortgage

Arvind Mohan, CEO, Kiavi

Maria Moskver, CEO, Cloudvirga

Laura Mowrer, EVP, Orion Technologies, Old Republic Title Tech

Tim Nguyen, Co-founder and CEO, BeSmartee

Austin Niemiec, Chief Revenue Officer, Rocket Mortgage

Mike Nolan, CEO, Fidelity National Financial

Peter Norden, CEO, Homebridge Financial Services

Anthony Noto, CEO, SoFi

Holly O'Neill, President, Consumer, Retail and Preferred, Bank of America

Todd Orlando, Co-founder and CEO, Defy Mortgage

Alex Overstrom, EVP, Head of Retail Banking, PNC Bank

Steve Ozonian, CEO and President, Williston Financial Group

John Paasonen, Co-founder and CEO, Maxwell

Anita Padilla-Fitzgerald, President and CEO, Take3Tech and MegaStar Financial Corp

Robert Palmer, Owner and CEO, RP Funding

Geno Paluso, CEO, Sagent

Adi Pavlovic, Co-founder and CEO, Newzip

Andy Peach, EVP and Chief Lending Officer, Onity

Zach Perret, Co-founder and CEO, Plaid

Sarah Petteway-Dib, SVP, Product and Data Operations, Veros Real Estate Solutions

Adam Pollitzer, President and CEO, National MI

Kevin Reen, CEO, Wells Fargo Home Lending

James Riccitelli, CEO, Unlock Technologies

Sofia Rossato, President and General Manager, Floify

Ben Rubenstein, President and Co-founder, Setpoint

Valerie Saunders, Chief Executive Strategist, National Association of Mortgage Brokers

Michael Schmeiser, President and CEO, Arch Mortgage Insurance Company

Terry Schmidt, President, Guild Mortgage

Eric Schuppenhauer, EVP, Group Business Unit Leader for Borrow, SoFi

Matthew Wajner, Chief Financial Officer, First American Financial Corporation

Dustin Sheppard, President, American Pacific Mortgage

William Shepro, CEO, Altisource

Baron Silverstein, President, Newrez

Max Simkoff, Founder and CEO, Doma

Raunaq Singh, Founder and CEO, Roam

Max Slyusarchuk, CEO, A&D Mortgage

Lee Smith, Senior EVP and Chief Financial Officer, Flagstar Bank

Dan Snyder, Co-founder & CEO, Lower

Thomas Sponholtz, CEO, Unison

Patrick Stone, Chairman and Founder, Williston Financial Group

Paul Sutor, President, myCUmortgage

David Temko, CEO, C2 Financial

Steve Thompson, President and CEO, PrimeLending

Rick Thornberry, CEO, Radian

Allan Thygesen, CEO, DocuSign

Chris Trujillo, Partner, Viant Eye

Joe Tyrrell, CEO, Optimal Blue

Drew Uher, Founder and CEO, HomeLight

Bruce Van Suan, CEO, Citizens Bank

Randy VandenHouten, SVP Joint Venture and Retail Lending, Shelter Mortgage

Jeffrey Walker, Co-founder and CEO, CredEvolv

Brian Webster, President, NotaryCam

Erin Wester, CPO, Optimal Blue

Kristy Williams Fercho, Head of Diverse Segments, Representation and Inclusion, Wells Fargo

Dontá Wilson, Chief Consumer and Small Business Banking Officer and member of the Truist Operating Council, Truist

Mike Yu, Co-founder and CEO, Vesta

Carter Zimmerman, President, Lendesk