John Lowenthal is the VP of Sales at Ocrolus, a leading fintech platform leveraging artificial intelligence to automate document processing and underwriting for the mortgage industry. With over 10 years at Ocrolus, John has played a pivotal role in scaling the company’s mortgage presence and driving innovation across lending workflows.
He has partnered with a wide range of lenders, particularly within the top 25 mortgage institutions, helping them modernize operations with intelligent automation, AI-driven data analysis and frictionless borrower experiences. His deep understanding of the mortgage lifecycle, coupled with a strategic approach to enterprise engagement, has made him a trusted advisor for digital transformation in lending.
John is passionate about helping financial institutions harness the power of AI to make faster, more informed decisions and is committed to shaping the future of mortgage technology through scalable, data-driven solutions.

Maria Volkova is a technology reporter at National Mortgage News. She previously worked at HousingWire where she covered housing agencies, with a focus on the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to that, Maria wrote the FHA/VA newsletter at Inside Mortgage Finance. She graduated from the University of Maryland and currently resides in Rockville, MD.

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.

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.

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.