Dr. Soaries has served as a director of Onity Group since January 2015. Dr. Soaries is Pastor Emeritus at First Baptist Church of Lincoln Gardens, where he served as Senior Pastor from 1990 through 2021. He formerly served as New Jersey Secretary of State from 1999 to 2002 and as Chair of the United States Election Assistance Commission from 2004 to 2005. He currently serves as an independent director at Independence Realty Trust, a publicly traded real estate investment trust, a position he has held since February 2011, and is Chair of the Compensation Committee. Dr. Soaries has also served as an independent director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York since January 2009, where he is Chair of the Compensation and Human Resources Committee and also serves as a member of the Technology Committee and the Housing Committee. He also previously served as a director of New Era Bank. Dr. Soaries earned a Bachelor of Arts from Fordham University, a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary.