Leadership

John J. Arens

John Arens is a Managing Director, Head of Home Equity Investments. Mr. Arens joined Redwood in 2022 and oversees Redwood’s home equity investment strategies. Mr. Arens has over 25 years of experience in finance and real estate, previously serving in executive legal and business roles at fintech and proptech start-ups such as Divvy Homes, Unison and Funding Circle USA. While at Unison, Mr. Arens was responsible for building the legal and regulatory strategies that supported the company’s nationwide expansion in home equity investments. Previously, Mr. Arens served as vice president in the residential mortgage business at Redwood Trust from 2004 – 2007. John holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of San Diego.

Emil J. Fanelli

Emil Fanelli is a Managing Director of Business Development at Redwood Trust. In his role, Mr. Fanelli is responsible for oversight of business development activities with a primary focus on relationship management for approved and prospective sellers within Redwood’s Residential business. Prior to joining Redwood in 2013, Mr. Fanelli held key capital markets officer positions at the Bank of New York, and Morgan Stanley Capital Corporation. Mr. Fanelli earned his bachelor’s degree in Finance from California State University, Northridge.

Carlene A. Graham

President of Redwood Residential

Carlene Graham is President of Redwood Residential. She joined the firm as a Vice President in 2013 and has held a number of roles across the organization since then, most recently as Chief Operating Officer. In her role, Carlene is responsible for driving increased revenue goals for the business, in addition to maintaining oversight for all purchase activities within Redwood’s Residential business including underwriting, system and process design, transaction management, counterparty risk, vendor management, funding, and client services. She is currently serves as an advisory committee member for the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business.

Jonathan M. Groesbeck

Head of Business Development and Institutional Sales of Redwood Residential

Jon Groesbeck is Head of Business Development and Institutional Sales at Redwood Residential. Jon joined Redwood in 2009 and during that time, he has been influential in growing Redwood Residential’s network of loan sellers. In his role, Jon manages all business development functions related to the seller relationships facing Redwood Residential, as well as several important whole loan and securitization investor relationships. Jon has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Illinois and an M.B.A from the University of Southern California.

Shawnda D. Merriman

Shawnda Merriman is a Managing Director overseeing Redwood’s Residential Post Purchase Operations function. Shawnda joined Redwood in 2015 and she is responsible for all post purchase activities including loan set-up, trailing loan documents, servicing oversight and portfolio analysis. She has 30 years’ experience as a management-level professional, supervising residential servicing, master servicing, compliance and risk management. Shawnda is currently a board member for The Gathering Place in Denver, CO.

Jeremy P. Strom

Chief Investment Officer of Redwood Residential

Jeremy Strom is Chief Investment Officer of Redwood Residential. Jeremy joined the firm in 2013 and had held a number of roles across the organization since then, most recently as Head of Capital Markets. In his role, Jeremy is responsible for overseeing the development and execution of Redwood Residential’s funding and investment strategy including trading, interest rate risk management, pricing, and Sequoia securitizations. Prior to joining Redwood in 2013, Jeremy served in various capital markets roles at Aurora Bank FSB (a Lehman Brother’s subsidiary). Jeremy holds a bachelor’s in Business Management from Clark University.

Gina M. Sykes

Gina Sykes is the Managing Director of Redwood’s Residential Pre-Purchase Operations group. Ms. Sykes joined Redwood in 2013 as a Client Services Representative and has held various roles across the organization since then, most recently as SVP Pre-Purchase Operations. In her current role, Ms. Sykes is responsible for all pre-purchase activities including funding, client services, indexing & data capture, appraisal review and collateral management. Ms. Sykes is currently a member of the Redwood Foundation and is an active participant in the Invest in Girls organization, sponsored by Redwood’s Together organization. Prior to joining Redwood, Ms. Sykes served in various retail mortgage roles at Aurora Loan Services (a Lehman Brother’s subsidiary) and Megastar Financial Corporation. 

Micaela M. Lumpkin

Chief Credit Officer and Chief Operating Officer

Micaela Lumpkin is Chief Credit Officer and Chief Operating Officer at CoreVest. In these roles Micaela is responsible for oversight and administration of CoreVest’s operating and credit activities, including oversight of loan policies and procedures. Prior to her current roles, Micaela was Managing Director, Head of Term Loans at CoreVest, where she was responsible for managing the operations of term financing products. Prior to joining CoreVest, Micaela spent almost ten years at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP as a Senior Associate, practicing in the Real Estate and Finance group, where she focused on the acquisition of distressed debt, as well as both mortgage and mezzanine financing. Micaela received her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.

Fred J. Matera

Chief Executive Officer of CoreVest

Fred J. Matera has been promoted to serve as Chief Executive Officer of CoreVest. Fred has also previously held the position of Chief Investment Officer of Redwood and Co-Head of Redwood’s Residential Investor business. During Fred’s time at Redwood, he has held various leadership positions, including Head of Redwood Residential and Redwood board member from March 2019 to December 2020. Prior to Redwood, Fred was co-founder of MoVi Partners, an advisory firm focused on promoting innovation through diversity in the fintech industry. During 2008-2016, Fred held several leadership positions with Redwood, including Chief Investment Officer and Head of Commercial. He has more than 30 years’ experience at top financial and mortgage banking firms, serving in senior-level positions. Fred has a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Tufts University, and an M.B.A. in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael H. Peerson

President of CoreVest

Michael Peerson is President of CoreVest. Michael joined CoreVest in 2022 and during his time at the company has held other leadership positions, including Chief Investment Officer, leading capital markets initiatives for the company. Prior to joining CoreVest, Michael was a Director at Wells Fargo Securities, where he traded non-Agency MBS securities. In that role, Mr. Peerson was a market-maker providing liquidity, assessing relative value, and managing risk across multiple non-Agency MBS securities and subsectors. While at Wells Fargo Securities, Mr. Peerson also held positions trading CMBS, Consumer ABS, and Agency MBS. Before joining the trading group at Wells Fargo Securities, Mr. Peerson was a Collateral Manager for an actively managed CRE CDO. Prior to Wells Fargo, Mr. Peerson worked in investment banking within the Debt Capital Markets Group at Wachovia Securities. Mr. Peerson holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Finance from the University of Florida and is a CFA Charterholder.

Nerissa S. Pryba

Head of Asset Management

Nerissa S. Pryba has served as CoreVest’s Head of Asset Management since January 2024. Prior to joining CoreVest in January 2024, Mrs. Pryba was employed at Dwight Mortgage Trust, serving as the Head of Asset Management.  In that role, Mrs. Pryba led a team of asset management and servicing professionals responsible for the management of performing and non-performing multifamily loans.  Prior to her employment at Dwight Mortgage Trust, Mrs. Pryba was employed at The Bancorp, where she was the Head of Asset Management for the bank’s multifamily bridge loans.  Mrs. Pryba began her career at BlackRock, where she was an asset manager for real estate debt and equity investments as well as the CMBS product specialist.  Mrs. Pryba holds a B.A. in Art History from Barnard College and an M.S. in Real Estate Finance from New York University.

Sean Robbins

Sean Robbins joined CoreVest in July 2022 as a Managing Director in connection with Redwood Trust’s acquisition of Riverbend Lending, a best in class private lender to investors. Mr. Robbins is one of the founding members of Riverbend Lending and also oversaw business development and loan growth for the company. Prior to Riverbend Lending, Mr. Robbins founded four private real estate investment funds. Mr. Robbins graduated from U.C.L.A with a major in Business Economics and a minor in Accounting/Public Policy.

Nathan S. Charles

Nathan Charles is Managing Director and Head of Technology Services at Redwood Trust. He is responsible for leading Application Development and Support including setting the direction for all SDLC methodologies, coding standards, tools, automation, software platform direction, and deployment processes for all technology teams. Prior to joining Redwood in 2014, Nathan held leadership positions at Promontory Financial Group, LLC and CGI, where he was responsible for client technology solutions, software development, offshore management, and client and employee coaching. Nathan holds a bachelor’s degree in Integrated Science and Technology / Computer Science from James Madison University.

Leah K. Goldmintz

Leah Goldmintz is a Managing Director and Assistant Treasurer of Redwood Trust and CoreVest. In this role, she is responsible for managing the warehousing and securitization process across practice types. Since joining CoreVest in 2014 as part of the capital markets group, Leah has worked on all CoreVest issued securitizations. Prior to joining CoreVest, Leah was at Auction.com where she focused on residential investor bridge lending and acted as loan sale advisor for non-performing loan sales. Leah received her B.A. in Economics and International Studies from Johns Hopkins University.

John H. Isbrandtsen

John Isbrandtsen is a Managing Director and Treasurer of Redwood Trust. Since joining the firm in 1999, over the last 20 years he has overseen various rolls including technology, operations, and capital markets as well as managing the residential conduit. John directed the development and implementation of the residential conduit in 2001 and more recently the jumbo and conforming conduit in 2009. He has over 30 years of experience in the mortgage lending and banking industry. John holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance and Economics from Babson College.

Jason A. Kopcak

Head of Alternative Strategies

Jason Kopcak joined Redwood Trust as Head of Alternative Strategies in November 2024, after a year of consulting with the Company. Jason’s experience includes sound corporate executive leadership along with expertise in launching successful new products and driving growth initiatives. During Jason’s career, he has held various mortgage finance leadership roles, including as the Chief Executive Officer of a publicly traded asset management and private credit provider. He also was employed at Morgan Stanley and Nomura Holdings, Inc. where he held leadership roles within the Residential teams at each institution, involved in various facets of the mortgage business from trading, warehousing, securitization to investment banking. Jason graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of General Studies.  

Kaitlyn J. Mauritz

Head of Investor Relations

Kaitlyn Mauritz is a Managing Director and Head of Investor Relations for Redwood Trust. Kait’s responsibilities include establishing and expanding the company's relationships with sell-side and buy-side investment analysts, industry analysts, media personnel and investors worldwide. She also provides input on the company’s financial reporting, capital markets, public relations and ESG-related activities. Prior to joining Redwood in January 2022, Kait was Head of Investor Relations for New Residential Investment Corp. and also held other investor relations related roles at Annaly Capital Management Inc. and ICR Inc. Kait began her career at Citigroup in both Sales & Trading and Equity Capital Markets and graduated with a BA in Politics from Princeton University.

David P. Monks

David Monks is a Managing Director of Finance at Redwood Trust. Since joining in 2006, he has held a number of finance and accounting positions across the firm. In his role, David is responsible for managing the financial planning and analysis, mergers and acquisitions, and strategic partnerships functions at Redwood. He has a bachelor’s degree in Business and Finance from Dublin City University in Ireland and is a CFA charter holder.

Matthew J. Pope

Matthew J. Pope joined Redwood in May 2013 and is currently Managing Director – Deputy General Counsel. Mr. Pope is responsible for a wide variety of corporate and transactional matters at Redwood, including capital markets activities, secured financing transactions of mortgage loans and securities, M&A, portfolio investments and strategic partnership activities, and public company corporate governance matters. Additionally, Mr. Pope participates in the management of the firm’s compliance and risk management infrastructure. Prior to joining Redwood, Mr. Pope was an associate in the San Francisco and Menlo Park offices of Latham & Watkins LLP, with a practice specializing in financing emerging and public companies, mergers and acquisitions, securities law compliance, and corporate governance. Mr. Pope holds a J.D. from New York University School of Law and a B.A. in rhetoric from the University of California, Berkeley.

Lucy D. Ruiz

Lucy Ruiz is a Managing Director and Corporate Controller at Redwood Trust. She joined the firm in 2007 and has served in a number of accounting roles across Redwood since then, including Senior Accountant, Loan Accounting Manager, and Assistant Controller. In her role, Lucy is responsible for the oversight of the accounting and reporting functions of the company. Lucy holds a B.A. degree in Political Science from Wellesley College and a Master of Accountancy degree from Golden Gate University.

Tracy T. Stelk

Tracy T. Stelk is a Managing Director and Head of Financial Reporting and Accounting Policy at Redwood.  Prior to joining Redwood in September 2023, Ms. Stelk led the financial reporting related to the global trading entities, onshore and offshore funds at Millennium Management LLC and was also responsible for oversight of Millennium’s global accounting policies and certain regulatory filings. Prior to joining Millennium, Ms. Stelk worked as a member of American International Group Inc.’s (“AIG”) Office of Accounting Policy, serving in a variety of roles, including most recently as the Global Head of IFRS/International Accounting Policy. Prior to joining AIG, Ms. Stelk was an Audit Senior Manager at Ernst & Young, where she served as a resident in the National Asset Management Practice. Ms. Stelk holds a BBA in Accounting and Finance from Baylor University, is a Certified Public Accountant in Texas and New York and a member of the AICPA.

J. Ryan McBride

Chief Investment Officer of RWT Horizons

Ryan McBride is Chief Investment Officer of RWT Horizons. Mr. McBride joined Redwood Trust in October 2019 as a Managing Director in connection with Redwood’s acquisition of CoreVest American Finance Lender, LLC (“CoreVest”) where he was a co-founder and the Chief Operating Officer. Mr. McBride has more than 25 years of experience in real estate and finance, previously serving as an Executive Vice President for Colony American Homes where he was a co-founder and responsible for the company’s overall acquisition efforts. In 2022, Mr. McBride was named Chief Investment Officer of Redwood’s venture capital investment arm, RWT Horizons, with oversight of developing and executing on RWT Horizons’ investment and operational strategy, including capital deployment, strategic partnerships and other capital formation activities. Prior his current roles, Mr. McBride worked in investment banking for over a dozen years, most of this time at JP Morgan. Mr. McBride received an MBA in Finance from The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University and a BBA in Finance from The College of William and Mary.