Optimal Blue bridges the primary and secondary mortgage markets to deliver the industry’s only end-to-end capital markets platform, helping lenders maximize profitability and operate efficiently so they can help American borrowers achieve the dream of homeownership.

Leah Price is a Senior Financial Technology and Innovation Specialist at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in the Office of Financial Technology. She’s focused on the frontier of emerging technology and benefits and risks for the mortgage industry. Prior to FHFA, Leah was Vice President of Lending Ecosystem at Figure Technologies, and before that she held various roles in product development at Fannie Mae. Leah received her BA from Georgetown University, and MBA from New York University Stern School of Business.

Heidi Patalano is the editor-in-chief of National Mortgage News. Previous to this role, she was a magazine editor at real estate trade publication The Real Deal. She also oversaw residential real estate news reporting as the features editor at DNAinfo.com. Patalano holds a Bachelor of Science from Boston University’s College of Communication.

Mark McArdle is the Assistant Director, Mortgage Markets at the Bureau. In this role he leads a team that works closely with industry and other stakeholders to help inform the Bureau and the public on current and future trends in the mortgage origination and servicing markets.

Before CFPB, McArdle was the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability at the U.S. Department of the Treasury. In this role, he led the office that managed the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), including its remaining investment and homeownership preservation programs, and advised the Department on access to credit issues. He also held previous roles at Treasury including Chief Homeownership Preservation Officer and Director of the Hardest Hit Fund. McArdle has played a key role in policy development for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), and oversaw the creation of the Hardest Hit Fund, which provided funding to state housing finance agencies (HFAs) for foreclosure prevention efforts.

McArdle has a Master’s degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Wisconsin, and has spent twenty years working on issues related to housing, mortgage lending and homeownership in nonprofits and government in Chicago, New York and Washington, D.C.

Christina Randolph is Vice President of Distribution within Seller Engagement in the Freddie Mac Single-Family Acquisitions Division. She oversees distribution of Freddie Mac tools and capabilities into the marketplace through a multi-channel model designed to focus on an easier and more efficient way to do business with Freddie Mac. Her group — comprising Partner Strategy and Integration, Business Development and Customer Service — is responsible for engaging with thousands of lending institutions, software platforms and third-party data providers, as well as consumers across the mortgage ecosystem.

Since joining Freddie Mac in 2018, Ms. Randolph has contributed efforts to enhance the loan manufacturing experience by developing new operating models and improving how we engage with channel partners to optimize lender adoption and use of Freddie Mac products and tools across the mortgage lifecycle. Her team focuses on providing superior customer and partner support experiences, as well as identifying impactful and meaningful partnership opportunities to help mitigate risk, lower origination costs, increase efficiencies and further digitize the mortgage industry.

With over 25 years of experience in both the mortgage and technology industries, she has held various roles in sales, operations, implementations and product management at Fannie Mae, FIS, Chase, Countrywide and PHH. In her career, she is dedicated to transforming the mortgage experience by bridging the gap between business process and technology.

Ms. Randolph holds a B.S. in finance from Rutgers University. She was recognized with HousingWire’s 2024 Women of Influence Award and the MBA Newslink 2023 Tech All-Star Award.

Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders and taxpayers.

Srijana Giri is a Product Owner and Senior Director of Loan Products in the Freddie Mac Single-Family Acquisitions Division. She is responsible for Single-Family’s Credit and Capacity offerings that affect or are provided to mortgage borrowers, including the enhancement of existing loan products and the creation of new ones to drive access to homeownership. Ms. Giri leads strategy for Acquisitions through the ideation, design and implementation of sustainable and scalable mortgage loan products that meet borrower needs and are consumable through our lenders and partners.

Prior to this role, Ms. Giri was responsible for driving innovation activities that support Freddie Mac’s Automated Underwriting Risk Assessment, Loan Product Advisor® (LPASM) and Asset and Income Modeler (AIM) tools with partners and clients. Ms. Giri has more than 15 years of experience in the mortgage and housing industry, spanning origination, risk, IT solutions and innovation. Before joining Freddie Mac in 2015, she held positions implementing software solutions in the healthcare, education and mortgage industries.

She holds an MBA and an undergraduate degree in computer science. Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders and taxpayers. Learn more at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.

Jodi Eberhardt is a Project Management Senior Director focusing on Seller Strategy and Optimization in the Seller Engagement organization within the Freddie Mac Single-Family Acquisitions Division. She consults with strategic business partners to improve business outcomes by integrating Freddie Mac technology into lender processes and systems.

Ms. Eberhart has nearly 25 years of experience across all channels of the residential mortgage industry. Prior to joining Freddie Mac in 2016, she consulted as a business architect to drive process improvement, technology innovation and cost reduction initiatives.

She holds an MBA in information technology from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in math, with a minor in business administration, from Drake University.

Freddie Mac makes home possible for millions of families and individuals by providing mortgage capital to lenders. Since our creation by Congress in 1970, we’ve made housing more accessible and affordable for homebuyers and renters in communities nationwide. We are building a better housing finance system for homebuyers, renters, lenders and taxpayers. Learn more at FreddieMac.com, Twitter @FreddieMac and Freddie Mac’s blog FreddieMac.com/blog.

Janet is a marketing research and strategic insights executive with extensive experience in the technology, B2B media, healthcare, financial and professional services industries. Her ability to apply a variety of research approaches to strategic business problems has resulted in the delivery of impactful, innovative research programs for a long roster for global Fortune 1000 companies. Previous to her role as VP of Research at Arizent, Janet served as the General Manager/SVP Research at IDG and the head of Market Insights for HIMSS, a nonprofit in the healthcare space. Her passion is storytelling with data, leveraging research to fuel data-driven strategic decision making and thought leadership content. She holds a B.S. degree from Alfred University, and an MBA degree from the Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College.

Since arriving at Guaranteed Rate in 2010, Jeremy Collett has demonstrated a capacity to combine deep industry knowledge with bold financial decision-making, helping fuel the company’s rise within the mortgage industry. As Chief Capital Markets Officer, Collett leads a team of experts through the challenging terrain of trading, securitization, interest rate risk management, product development, portfolio management, and investor relations. Previously, Mr. Collett served as Managing Director, Capital Markets at Pennymac. Mr. Collett received a BA in Economics from the University of Florida and is the proud father of Breckin and Sutton. An avid saltwater fisherman, Mr. Collett enjoys spending time around the mangrove islands in the Gulf of Mexico where he grew up. Jeremy is also a guitarist, drummer, golfer, and a die-hard supporter of the Florida Gators. His wife, Amy, is also in the mortgage industry.