Mark Janssen

Chief Executive Officer / Chairman of the ACH Board

Mark Janssen is the Chief Executive Officer of Towne Mortgage Company and serves as Chairman on the Board at Towne Mortgage Company and American Community Homes. An accomplished financial institution executive with over 40 years of increasing responsibility in leadership and management roles.

Most recently, Mark served as GSVP Retail Sales and Sales Operations of MB Mortgage, Chief Executive Officer of Amera Mortgage Corporation, Chief Operating Officer of Source One Mortgage Corporation, and Director Retail Production of CitiMortgage. Mark has proven expertise in running all aspects of mortgage lending as well as creating and executing successful strategic business plans aimed at restructuring, repositioning, growth, and recapitalization. Mark was appointed by the governor of the state of Michigan to the inaugural Mortgage Industry Advisory Board and served two terms.

Mark is active in the community and a variety of charitable organizations. KAJ Foundation, which raises and distributes money to assist breast cancer patients with uncovered expenses. Nourish USA, which is predominantly involved in providing food, education, and shelter to children in villages near Hoedspruit South Africa. Mark is a founder and current board member of both organizations.

On a personal note, Mark was once a varsity high school coach, is currently a United States Ski Association official and former Board Member and is an active participant of anything outdoors. Mark obtained his Bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan and his Master’s degree in business administration and finance from Wayne State University.

Russ Smith

Member of the ACH Board

Bernard “Russ” Smith, a member of the American Community Homes Board.

Russ previously served as EVP and Head of Production for Newrez through 2022. Newrez’s parent company purchased Caliber Home Loans in 2021, where Russ served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President since 2012.
Russ has also been responsible for the production of sales in Caliber’s Retail, Wholesale, Correspondent and Direct to Consumer channels since 2016. Prior to joining Caliber in 2012, he was an EVP at Bank of America from 2008 to 2011 in the mortgage group over Fulfillment and later over Change Management.

Prior to that, Russ served in various roles as President, Chief Financial Officer or Chief Operating Officer for several large independent mortgage companies. He has over 35 years of experience in the mortgage industry and earned his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University along with his Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas.

Kim Alexander

Chief Operations and Transformation Officer

Kim Alexander is the Chief Operations and Transformation Officer at Towne Mortgage Company, where she helps guide operational strategy and supports key transformation initiatives across the organization. With more than 28 years of experience in the mortgage industry—including 26 years with Towne—Kim brings a strong background in operations, technology, and team leadership.

A member of Towne’s Executive Team, Kim is responsible for leading both front- and back-end operations across Towne’s multi-channel, multi-brand platform. She also leads the Training and Operations teams and, most recently, became the Executive Leader of our Information Technology (IT) team, driving efficiency, innovation, and scalability across the organization.

Kim is a past president of the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association (MMLA) and remains actively involved in the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA), as well as several regional credit union support organizations. Throughout her career, she has contributed to numerous local and national committees and has completed the MBA’s School of Mortgage Banking Courses I and II.

She studied business at the University of Michigan and holds both the Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) and Certified Residential Originator (CRO) designations.

Outside of work, Kim enjoys spending time with her husband, Phil, and their son, Noah, along with their extended family. She is an avid sports fan and enjoys golfing and traveling.

Monica Horger

Chief People Officer

Monica Horger is the Chief People Officer at Towne Mortgage Company and a member of the Executive Committee.  Monica has over 35 years of experience in Human Resources within the Mortgage, Finance, Marketing and Healthcare industries spanning many aspects including leadership, coaching, recruiting, driving performance, mergers and acquisitions, training, and building structure and culture.

Monica was instrumental in leading and building HR and Culture strategy at Quicken Loans (Rocket Mortgage),  MB Financial Bank, and Guaranteed Rate Mortgage.  She is actively involved with the 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work for in Metro Detroit and Friends for Animals of Metro Detroit (her passion is animals)!

Monica has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and a Master’s in Human Resources from Walsh College.

She lives in the Metro Detroit area with her husband Brett and three children: Loki, a Giant Newfoundland, Rigzy a Golden Retriever puppy, and Calvin Johnson the cat (and memories forever of their 16 year-old Golden named Salum and Jett, their first Newfoundland).

Kim Goodell

Chief Servicing Officer

Kim Goodell is the Chief Servicing Officer for Towne Mortgage Company and proudly serves on the Executive Committee. Having joined Towne in 2020, Kim brought with her extensive experience from years in private practice, where her focus was on creditor’s rights and real estate law. Kim is a licensed attorney in Michigan, Illinois, and Missouri. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and French from Western Michigan University, followed by a Juris Doctor from the University of Illinois Chicago School of Law.

In her free time, Kim enjoys playing and watching just about any sport and is an avid reader. Most weekends, you will find Kim outside at the soccer field watching her kids’ games.

John A. Korch

Chief Production Officer

John A. Korch is the Chief Production Officer of Towne Mortgage Company and a member of the Executive Committee.  John has over 30 years in the mortgage banking industry covering Finance, Capital Markets, Community Lending, Consumer Direct, Retail and Third Party Originations Sales Management.

Most recently before coming to Towne, John served as Senior Vice President of Retail and Consumer Direct Sales at MB Financial Bank, N.A.  John was previously Senior Vice President of Amera Mortgage Corporation, Vice President at Citigroup, and Vice President at Source One Mortgage Services Corporation.

John earned a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

John lives in Harbor Springs, Michigan and loves being outdoors year-round enjoying skiing, biking, hiking, travelling, and spending time with family and friends.

Phillip Kukafka

Chief Capital Markets Officer

Phillip Kukafka is the Chief Capital Markets Officer of Towne Mortgage and a member of the company’s Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Towne Mortgage, Phillip worked at The Money Source (TMS), where he was involved in all aspects of the business, including capital markets, sales, securitization, MSR valuation and sales, operations, risk management implementation, hedging strategies, and loan trading. During his tenure, he played a key role in scaling the company’s production from approximately $20 million per month to $500 million per month.

Before TMS, Phillip led the Capital Markets team at Deutsche Bank within its MortgageIT division, where he sold more than $150 billion in mortgage loans to Wall Street banks and institutional investors. He was also a member of the Executive and Public Relations teams supporting MortgageIT’s successful initial public offering.

Phillip is a Certified Public Accountant and has held roles at public accounting firms as well as on Wall Street. He earned his degree in Accounting from Fredonia State University.

In his free time, Phillip—an equal‑opportunity sportsman—enjoys scuba diving, skiing, mountain biking, roller hockey, and golf.

Thomas J. Marshall

Chief Financial Officer

Thomas J. Marshall is the Chief Financial Officer for Towne Mortgage Company and a member of its Executive Committee.  Tom has over 30 years’ experience in the mortgage banking, commercial finance and banking industries.

Prior to coming to Towne, Tom held senior roles in finance, treasury, and capital markets.  Tom began his career with Ernst and Young and is a Certified Public Accountant.

Tom obtained a Bachelor’s degree at the University of Michigan-Dearborn and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration at Wayne State University.

In his free time, Thomas enjoys tennis, biking, and spending time with his family and friends.

Dana Peznowski

Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel

Dana Peznowski is the Chief Risk Officer and General Counsel for Towne Mortgage Company and serves on the Executive Committee.

Prior to joining Towne, Dana was a Compliance Partner Lead at Flagstar Bank for its Mortgage and Consumer Lending divisions as well as a practicing Attorney at Kus, Ryan & Associates, PLLC where she provided advisory services to clients in the areas of Financial Institution Regulatory Compliance, Consumer Credit, Banking law and Real Estate law.

You can usually find Dana at a baseball/softball diamond cheering on her kids’ teams or reading.  She loves her rescue Pitties, being outside, and experiencing new places and things.

Dana is a graduate of University of Detroit Mercy’s School of Law and obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Oakland University. Additionally, Dana holds a Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) designation from the American Bankers Association.