By Cindy Immonen, NTP, CLTP
Cindy: How did you find your way into this industry and the MLTA?
Darlene: How I made it into this industry is a small part of my story. WHY I have stayed in the title industry for 19 years, became interested and stayed involved in the MLTA is far more meaningful.
I credit my long tenure in this industry and the MLTA to the many people with whom I have had the pleasure to associate with throughout my career. I distinctly recall my first MLTA event, during my first week with LandAmerica’s Agency Division, in February 2007. The camaraderie amongst attendees, during that event, in addition to the welcoming nature of the MLTA leaders in attendance sparked my initial interest in the association and led to committee membership and leadership roles, board participation, and ultimately now President of the MLTA. I think this is the perfect opportunity to acknowledge Bob Wuerfel, Doug McFarlane, Jerome Jelinek, Allan Dick, Tim McDonnell, Diana Parker and Bob Meredith for inspiring my initial involvement in the MLTA, and more importantly, for setting the standard for future MLTA leaders.
Cindy: What are the main goals you’d like to accomplish as President this coming year?
Darlene: One of my favorite aspects of this association is that it isn’t about ONE person, organization, or board’s platform. In some cases, goals are carried through from previous years, and new goals will be acted upon by future boards. In 2020-2021 we will continue the important work initiated by Tom Lico, Phil Savich, John Bommarito, Debbie Wiley and Marcy Welburn.
We will focus on a few new initiatives, in 2020-2021:
Thank you to Tony Viviani, Kristen Dankert, Debbie Haught, Ethan Powsner, Brandon Hunt, Kevin Lounds and Deb Lauermann for agreeing to take lead roles on these special projects this year.
Cindy: What can MLTA members do to assist with these initiatives?
Darlene: Great question – an important one. While I understand the challenges of balancing a career, family and other interests, I want to encourage every member of the association to participate. Participation comes in many forms: attending association event(s) and sharing your constructive feedback; sharing your perspective and skills, as an event panelist or speaker; joining or leading a committee; and/or writing an article for Title Bytes. We welcome you in whatever capacity you can serve our association, and we are committed to ensuring our active members will reap the benefits of their participation by gaining industry insight and honing their professional skills.
I am excited to announce that we have several first- time committee leaders this year, including: David Nichols, Vice-Chair, Title Agents & Associates Committee; Chris Kass, Vice-Chair, PAC; Mike Cole, Vice-Chair, Sponsorship; Caitlin Masanovic, Vice-Chair, Young Title Professionals; and Jillian Diehl, Vice-Chair, Education.
I’d like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to Doug Smith, Allan Dick, Toni Viviani, Debbie Wiley, John Bommarito, Bill Robinson and Tim McDonnel for their long-standing commitment to our association. Each of these Past-Presidents of the MLTA have remained active in committees and committee leadership roles. In addition, Meredith Weingarden, Cindy Immonen and Lavinia Biasell, all past MLTA Board Members, continue to support our association as Legislative, Legislative Steering and Education committee leads.
Other association leaders deserving mention include: Kevin Lounds, Chair, Membership Committee; Kristen Dankert, Vice-Chair, Public Service; Ethan Powsner, Chair, Technology; Caitlin McCourt Leszczynski, Chair, YTP; Brandon Hunt, Vice-Chair, Technology; Heather Moldovan, Co-Editor, Title Bytes; Lindsey Azelton, Chair, Title Agents & Associates; Lisa Rozmarniewicz, Chair, and Ben-Jon Bellomo, Vice-Chair, Communications and Public Relations; and Wes Parkinson, Chair, Sponsorship.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our 2020-2021 MLTA Board members, including Tom Lico, Eileen LaPlante, Jacquie Brink, Debbie Haught, Brian Roberts, Dave Martyn, Amy Zemple, Maura Snabes and Iain Bryant. We are grateful for the opportunity of representing and serving our membership base.
Please reach out to Marcy Lay, at marcy@kjlteam.com if you are interested in working with our amazing team of MLTA members!