Plaid is a global data network that powers the tools millions of people rely on to live healthier financial lives. Our ambition is to facilitate a more inclusive, competitive, and mutually beneficial financial system by simplifying payments, revolutionizing lending, and leading the fight against fraud.
Plaid works with thousands of companies, including fintechs like Venmo and SoFi, several Fortune 500 companies, and many of the largest banks to empower people with more choice and control over how they manage their money. Headquartered in San Francisco, Plaid’s network spans over 12,000 institutions across the U.S., Canada, U.K., and Europe.

TJ brings nearly 15 years of experience leading architecture and engineering  teams across financial services. She has a strong track record of driving change— modernizing platforms and aligning technology with business strategy. She’s  passionate about bringing product and technology together to create meaningful,  sustainable impact. 

Beyond her day-to-day work, TJ stays actively involved in tech community events  to connect with and learn from others who are shaping the future of our industry. 

Outside of work, she’s a proud mom of two daughters, lifts weights to clear her  head, and enjoys reading non-fiction.

Optimal Blue powers profitability across the mortgage capital markets ecosystem. Our end-to-end capital markets platform delivers pricing accuracy, margin protection, and measurable results through cloud-native technology, automation, and data – helping lenders operate efficiently and scale for growth in any market.

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.

Jason Bressler is UWM’s Chief Technology Officer. He has been with the company since 2016 and is responsible for leading a team of over 1800 IT professionals. With more than two and a half decades of IT experience in the mortgage banking industry, Jason excels in application development and enterprise implementation and scaling. He is constantly developing intuitive technology platforms that help both UWM team members and independent mortgage brokers grow their business. Under Jason’s leadership, UWM has developed the tools and platforms clients need to grow quickly, efficiently and with scale. Prior to joining UWM, Jason served on multiple mortgage and CIO advisory boards and held positions as Chief Technology Officer for The Federal Savings Bank and Chief Information Officer for Guaranteed Rate. Jason earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University.

Founder of The Basis Point®, a sales & strategy consultancy to banks, lenders, and fintechs – and a smart, fun financial media brand. We advise top companies in the space, and cut through the consumer finance, real estate, and fintech clutter to deliver sharp insights that consumers get and pros respect.