Each year, HousingWire’s Rising Stars award spotlights 50 industry-changing young professionals in housing who have made their mark in the housing economy before their 40th birthdays. These young professionals come from all sectors — mortgage, real estate, fintech, servicing and much more — and are taking the lead on revolutionizing the housing industry.
Last year’s list of honorees included and impressive range of trail blazers who navigated a challenging year without a road map, tapping into their core strengths and spearheading the conversations that moved the market forward. Take a look at some of our 2021 Rising Star recipients below and click here to see the full list.
- Christie Grix, Head of People Ops at Maxwell helped grow the company’s workforce by 154 employees in 2020, enabling Maxwell to scale the services it offers to its customer which resulted in more than $1 billion in loans processed and underwritten per month on the platform.
- LodeStar Software Solutions CEO and Founder Jim Paolino founded the company at age 26. Today, Paolino’s active leadership and vision are providing one of the industry’s most-utilized loan estimate calculators, delivering guaranteed closing cost estimates for all 50 states
- Finance of America Reverse’s SVP of Best Practices, Britany Luth, took her industry expertise and senior management skills to the next level last year by managing the development of her 5th product at FAR.
- Bobby Burns, VP, Product Management at OJO Labs spearheaded the development of one of the real estate industry’s first and only end-to-end platform for homebuying and selling, providing unparalleled support to consumers and real estate partners alike.
- Seth Appleton spent his career advancing housing initiatives on Capitol Hill before becoming the first full-time President of MISMO where he is advancing the mortgage market’s digital future by developing and promoting the adoption of industry standards for the real estate finance industry.
If you know a rising star who is under 40 and making an impact — and it could even be you! — nominate them today!
