Laura Brandao, Chief operating officer, American Financial Resources

Laura Brandao’s vision of bringing families home has become the foundation for the culture at American Financial Resources [AFR]. Boasting more than two decades of experience in the mortgage industry, Brandao brought the wholesale division to AFR in 2007 and became an AFR partner in 2009. She has been the driving force that has catapulted AFR Wholesale to the top of manufactured home, one-time close and renovation lending in the US. She has seamlessly rolled out new products based on market demand, including VA Renovation, and will be introducing one-time close for USDA in the near future. Brandao also designed AFR’s on-demand processing, providing brokers and correspondent lenders a way to focus on their customers while using AFR’s staff to process, underwrite, close and fund loans.

Brandao’s understanding of current business trends helped to inform the company’s latest innovation: an integration between AFR and Amazon’s Alexa. Thanks to Brandao’s hands-on approach, AFR remains on the cutting edge of technology with mobile-friendly applications that can integrate the borrower, Realtor, broker and AFR in a cohesive environment. Brandao appeared on MPA’s Hot 100 list earlier this year and is making her third appearance on the Elite Women list.