The MBA of Florida has seven chapters around the state:

Tallahassee  

Jacksonville

Central Florida

Tampa Bay

Gulf Coast

SW Florida

South Florida

Each chapter has it's own local activities and meetings throughout the year. Each has it's own charity or charities they support. Not only are they actively engaging in education and networking they also support the communities where they live. Below are some reports from our chapters on what is going on with them!  

by Matthew Goldman, CLO, MBA of Central Florida President  

MBA of Central Florida has had a great first quarter of 2014. In January we enjoyed a joint meeting with FAMP, and heard Andrea Lee Negroni, Of Counsel, BuckleySandler speak on "Social Media is HOT for Marketing - But Do You Know the Risks?" Then in February we learned about "Mortgage Originations Version 14 - What Systems Are You Running?" by Steve Richman, "That MI Guy," with Genworth Financial. We learned some interesting statistics in March from John B. Jung Jr. ,Senior who is Managing Director of BB&T Capital Markets who spoke on "Competing in Today's Global Economy." Our Chapter always collects at every meeting and event donations for SafeHouse of Central Florida which is a non-profit organization dedicated to seeing an end to the cycle of domestic violence. We continue at every meeting to raise funds for MPAC donations thank you to the support of our members. We are excited at our April meeting to begin a huge fundraiser for MPAC. We are selling a limited number of tickets for an opportunity to win a Tablet. Our chapter is determined to exceed our donation amount to MPAC from last year, and we believe this will enable us to do so. We are also excited for our 18th Annual Golf Tournament on Monday, May 19th, 2014 at Heathrow Country Club. For information on upcoming meetings and events please visit our website at http://www.mbacf.org.

by Randy Galloway, MBA of Jacksonville President 

Our chapter partnered with FAMP, NEFBA and NEFAR to hold a North East Florida Real Estate Symposium which was well attended by over 250 industry folks.  We had sponsors for the event and offered a free full breakfast.  Our chapter brought in over $2500.00 for that event!  We continue to have over 20 attend our breakfast meetings the first Thursday of each month.  We have established our new leaders for 2014 - 2015 and they will take the reins at our June 5th Meeting.  We are in the beginning stages of planning our 2014 1st Annual Golf Tournament which will be held on October 10th.  At this time we continue to push forward, grow and be in involved as an organization.

by Randi Gocinski, MBA of South Florida President 

We started our year with Sue Dutcher, First American Title Insurance Company who presented "Referrals-One of the Keys to Your 2014 Plan" .  In February we has Steve Richman presenting "Mortgage Orginations Version 14, What System are you running" In March we had Susan Walsh from Radian present "Sell Like a Rock Star".  Our biggest meeting so far this year was April where we had Russell McInerney discuss "How You CAN get a condo approved over 75% LTV", there were 62 attendees!

May 2, 2014 MBA of South Florida holds its Second Annual Golf Tournament at Bonaventure Country Club.  Title Sponsor Mortgage Information Services, Gold Sponsor JPMorgan Chase, Silver Sponsors BB&T, Dart Appraisal, PRMG(Paramount Residential Mortgage Group), Bronze Sponsor UAMC(Universal American Mortgage Company) and American Bancshares. 100% of the raffle and mulligan ticket sales go directly to Make-A-Wish Southern Florida.  Our goal is to raise $5,000 to support one wish.  We currently have 70 golfers registering and hopefully more in the next week.

 MBA of Tallahassee 

The Women's Council of Realtors of Tallahassee, hosted the 23rd Annual Chili Cook off on 2/25/2014.  MBA of Tallahassee sponsored their past president, Dana Cummins, to cook.  Dana is a veteran winner of this event and has brought home the hot & Spiciest award 2009,2010,2012 and 2014!  WCR does this as one of their main fundraisers every year.  The WCR President will select a charity in the community to donate the proceeds to.

Each chapter is so very active and enjoys the benefit of monthly meetings for greater networking opportunities on a localize level.

Click Here to Access the Chapters - Click the Chapter Links once on our web site! 

In order to serve consumers, the real estate finance industry must reflect the demographics of America in both our workforce and our lending. Census data indicates that by 2050, the United States will be "minority-majority." We've made progress in recent years, but not nearly enough

So we decided we needed a plan. We gathered some great minds and caring individuals, and got to work, the result of which was the 2013 launch of MBA's Diversity and Inclusion Committee. Over the next several months, you'll hear more about committee initiatives and how you can get involved, but right now, we invite you to join your colleagues at our first  Strategic Markets and Diversity Conference, taking place June 25-27 in Washington, DC.

This important event will bring together top industry experts to explore everything from best practices in fair lending, to growing your business through diverse markets, to recruiting and retaining top talent, to compliance under Dodd-Frank section 342. Don't miss this outstanding opportunity to discuss the many ways a more diverse workforce leads to innovation and growth.

MBA takes our leadership role in the real estate finance industry very seriously, and we are very excited about the potential of this new initiative. We hope you will join us in moving it forward. Register today.

Sincerely,

Debra Still, CMB                                                              David H. Stevens

President and Chief Executive Officer, Pulte Mortgage  President and Chief Executive Officer, MBA

Chair, MBA Diversity and Inclusion Committee

Want to be Extremely, Wildly, Radically Successful?

Joel Peterson, Chairman, JetBlue Airways, Stanford Business School