Executive Management

Mat Ishbia is Chairman and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage. He has served as UWM’s President and Chief Executive Officer since 2013. Mat joined the company in 2003 and has held multiple positions leading up to his current role, including Account Executive, National Sales Manager and Executive Vice President, Wholesale. Under Mat’s leadership, UWM has soared to new heights, becoming one of the most innovative lenders in the industry. Mat is known as a prominent advocate for mortgage brokers nationwide and regularly promotes the wholesale channel on national platforms such as CNBC, Fox Business and Bloomberg TV. Most recently, he received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2021 award. Mat was also named one of the “Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40” and one of the “25 Most Connected Mortgage Professionals” by National Mortgage Professional magazine. Other accolades include being named a “Rising Star” and Vanguard Award winner by HousingWire. In 2019, Mat wrote the book Running the Corporate Offense, applying lessons he learned playing basketball for Michigan State University coach Tom Izzo to running a highly successful business. Mat earned his bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

Andrew Hubacker is UWM’s Chief Financial Officer, overseeing all financial aspects of the company including accounting, internal and external reporting, financial compliance, tax, treasury and liquidity management, and budgeting and forecasting. He joined UWM in October 2020 and brings nearly three decades of experience. Prior to joining UWM, Hubacker spent 18 years at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, including over 12 years as an audit partner. He also spent time at AOL, LLC and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). He is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Michigan and graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.

Melinda Wilner is UWM’s Chief Operating Officer, a position she has held since 2015. In this role, she leads over 5,000 team members in underwriting and operations, where she sets a new standard for excellence by focusing on efficiency, accessibility and service. Melinda works in lockstep with IT and oversees the largest collective group of teams at UWM, where she constantly strives to streamline the lending process for mortgage brokers and borrowers nationwide. Melinda originally joined UWM in 2011 as Underwriting Manager and has held positions including Head of Underwriting and Chief Risk Officer. She was most recently recognized as one of Crain’s 2021 Notable Women in Banking, and was a HousingWire Vanguard award winner in 2017. She received a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University.

Laura Lawson is UWM’s Chief People Officer. She is the company’s team builder and culture creator who focuses on maximizing the potential of team members. In her role, she works to develop an environment with team members as the sole focus and has an unwavering commitment to maintaining UWM’s prized workplace culture. Laura has been with the company since 2011 and served as SVP of Marketing before becoming UWM’s Chief People Officer in 2014. Prior to joining the company, Laura was the Director of Marketing and Communications for the American Lung Association, Associate Producer on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Associate Producer for Fox Television and Project Manager for Carlson Marketing Group. She was named one of the “Top 40 under 40” by Crain’s Detroit Business in 2013. Laura received her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.

Alex Elezaj is UWM’s Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which he is laser focused on growing the mortgage broker channel as a whole. Prior to joining the company in 2018, Alex served as Chief Executive Officer of Class Appraisal, Inc, which he led to become one of the nation’s largest and most successful appraisal management companies. In 2018, Alex led the sale of the company to private equity, which has continued to be a great success. He is a 2017 HousingWire Vanguard award winner, a member of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and has been recognized as one of National Mortgage Professional magazine’s “40 Under 40.” Alex received a bachelor’s degree from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration, and an MBA from Michigan State University.

Blake Kolo is the Chief Business Officer and Head of Investor Relations for UWM in which he brings an unparalleled combination of accounting, finance and sales to the executive team. His primary focus is the management of UWM’s mortgage funding operation. His team drives maximum efficiency in the utilization of warehouse lines of credit in order to wire and fund mortgages. He also leads many special initiatives aimed at accelerating business development. Prior to joining UWM in 2019, he was Managing Director at The Siegfried Group, an accounting and finance advisory firm. Blake is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Examiner, a Certified Fraud Examiner and is Certified in Financial Forensics. In 2022, Blake was named a top 40 under Forty by Crain’s Detroit Business and was recognized as a DBusiness 30 in Their Thirties honoree. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University.

Matt Roslin is UWM’s Executive Vice President of Compliance and Legal Affairs. Prior to joining the company in 2013, he spent eight years at Flagstar Bancorp, Inc., where he served as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Administrative Officer and more recently has served as a board member or senior advisor to several other companies in the residential mortgage through RMS Group, LLC, a consulting firm that he founded. In addition to his executive role at UWM, Matt is a partner in Alidade Capital, a Registered Investment Advisor that sponsors pooled investment vehicles that invest in Commercial Real Estate. He received a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the University of California Los Angeles, School of Law.

Lee Jelenic is UWM’s Chief Innovation Officer. In this role, he leads Client Experience, Digital Innovation, Government Affairs, and Investor Relations. He is responsible for ensuring that UWM’s products and service remain best in class. Prior to joining the company in 2019, Lee spent 11 years at Ford Motor Company, most recently as Chief Executive Officer of Ford Commercial Solutions, a global business unit within Ford Smart Mobility that delivered vehicle data, analytics and fleet management services to commercial customers. He also served as Vice President of Marketing at The Ford Motor Credit Company where he led global marketing, fintech, data services and new business development. Prior to that, he led marketing for the Lincoln Brand and was named to Automotive News’ “40 Under 40” in 2014. He also played two seasons of professional hockey and spent four years at JP Morgan in their Capital Markets group in New York City. Lee was most recently recognized as a 2022 HousingWire Insider, an award given to those who drive their companies and clients forward. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Yale University and earned an MBA with honors from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sarah DeCiantis has been UWM’s Chief Marketing Officer since 2017. In this position, she leads all marketing, advertising, and external and internal communications efforts. She joined UWM in 2014 as Vice President, Marketing; prior to that, she was the Director of Partnership Marketing for Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons. She also worked for 10 years at nationally recognized advertising agencies including Doner, Campbell-Ewald and McCann Worldgroup. Sarah was recognized as one of the mortgage industry’s “Hot 100” by Mortgage Professional America in 2019 and was named one of the “Top 40 under 40” by National Mortgage Professional magazine in 2017. She was also awarded the 2019 Vanguard award by HousingWire, and the Crain’s Detroit Business “40 under 40” award in 2020. Most recently, Sarah was named a HousingWire Marketing Leader for 2021. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University.

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 almost 1200 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 applications, and independent mortgage brokers grow their businesses. 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. He was most recently named a 2021 HousingWire Tech Trendsetter, and was recognized as a HousingWire Vanguard recipient in 2018. Jason earned his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Michigan University.

Kirstin Hammond is UWM’s Head of Capital Markets. She is a mortgage industry veteran with more than 25 years in the business. In her position, she leads UWM’s Capital Markets and product innovation teams, where she is responsible for tapping information and technology with an eye on spearheading industry advances. Prior to joining the company in 2012, she was an Executive Vice President at Flagstar Bank. Kirstin is also the founder of Share A Smile, a charitable organization created in 1999, where she currently serves as board member and treasurer. She received a bachelor’s degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in finance and real estate from the University of Michigan.

Katie Foster is UWM’s Chief Risk Officer. In this position, she oversees all facets of Risk, including Quality Control, Legal, Compliance, Credit Policy, Servicing and more. Katie has held various roles within UWM, including Credit Policy Manager and SVP, Head of Underwriting. Katie has been in the mortgage industry since 1996. She was a loan originator and Branch Manager for several years and has also run her own third-party processing company. Her prior experience includes Underwriting Manager at JPMorgan Chase & Co. and VP of Operations and Birmingham Bancorp. Katie was recently recognized as one of mortgage banking’s most powerful women by National Mortgage Professional magazine.