Board of Directors

Mr. Messina serves as our Chair, President and Chief Executive Officer. He has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a member of Onity Group’s Board of Directors since joining the Company in October 2018. Mr. Messina was appointed Chair of the Board of Directors in January 2023. Previously, he served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of PHH Corporation (PHH) from January 2012 to June 2017 and Chief Operating Officer from July 2011 to December 2011. Mr. Messina also served as a director of PHH from January 2012 to June 2017 and as a consultant to PHH through March 2018. Prior to joining PHH, Mr. Messina spent 17 years at General Electric Company (GE), most recently as Chief Executive Officer of GE Chemical and Monitoring Solutions, a global water and process specialty chemicals services business, from 2008 until July 2011. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Ramapo College and a Masters of Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickinson University.

Mr. Stein has served as Lead Independent Director since January 2023 and as a director of Onity Group since February 2019. Mr. Stein is an independent consultant and was previously Chief Executive Officer and a director of EJF Acquisition Corp. which merged with Pagaya Technologies Ltd. in 2022. Prior to joining EJF Capital, Mr. Stein served as Chief Executive Officer of Resolution Analytica Corp. since co-founding the business in 2017 with KCK US, Inc., a family-controlled private equity firm. Mr. Stein was previously a Managing Director in the Financial Institutions Group of Barclays, a Partner and Group Head of Depository Investment Banking at FBR & Co., a member of the leadership team of GreenPoint Financial Corporation, a bank holding company, and an Associate Director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Mr. Stein is Audit Committee Chair of Dime Community Bancshares, Inc. (Nasdaq: DCOM) and a director of Pagaya Technologies Ltd (Nasdaq: PGY). Mr. Stein also served as a director of PHH Corporation from June 2017 until its acquisition by Onity Group in October 2018. Mr. Stein is Audit Committee Chair and, since 1996, a Director of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation. Mr. Stein received his undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and his Master of Business Administration from Carnegie Mellon University.

Mr. Bowers has served as a director of Onity Group since May 2015. Effective December 13, 2021, Mr. Bowers was appointed as a Director, the Audit & Finance Committee Chair and a member of the Compensation Committee of CWT Travel Holdings, Inc., a private business-to-business-for-employees (B2B4E) travel management platform. Mr. Bowers has also served as a Director of Walker & Dunlop, Inc., a publicly traded commercial real estate finance company, since December 2010, serves as its Lead Director, and serves on its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and as Chair of its Audit Committee, but will be retiring as a Director of Walker & Dunlop, Inc. on May 5, 2022. Mr. Bowers also served on the board and as Audit Committee Chair of CorePoint Lodging Inc., a publicly traded lodging REIT, from April 2018 until March 3, 2022, when the company became a privately held company in a merger transaction. From July 2013 to May 2018, Mr. Bowers served as a Director of La Quinta Inns & Suites, a publicly traded hotel chain. Mr. Bowers’ additional prior roles include serving as a Director of American Achievement Corp., a privately-held manufacturer and distributor of graduation products, President, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of Cape Success, LLC, a private equity-backed staffing service and information technology solutions business, President, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of MarketSource Corporation, a marketing and sales support service firm and President, Chief Executive Officer and a board member of MBL Life Assurance Corporation, a life insurance company. Mr. Bowers also previously served on the boards and as Audit Committee Chair of Refrigerated Holdings, Inc., Roadlink Inc., and Fastfrate Holdings, Inc., each a transportation and logistics firm. Mr. Bowers has been a Certified Public Accountant since 1978, with experience including 17 years at Coopers & Lybrand, L.L.P. Mr. Bowers received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Montclair State University and his Master of Business Administration from St. John’s University.

Dr. Britell has served as a director of Onity Group since February 2019. Dr. Britell served as a director of United Rentals, Inc. from 2006 to 2019, including as its non-executive Chair from 2008 to 2019. Dr. Britell also served as a director of Quest Diagnostics Inc., including as a member of its Audit and Finance Committee, from 2005 to 2019. From 2000 through 2017, Dr. Britell served as a director of Crown Holdings, Inc., including as Chair of the Audit Committee. Previously, Dr. Britell served as Chair and Chief Executive Officer of Structured Ventures, Inc., advisors to U.S. and multinational companies, and as a senior executive of GE Capital, including as the Executive Vice President of Global Consumer Finance and President of Global Commercial and Mortgage Banking. Before joining GE Capital, she held significant management positions with Dime Bancorp, Inc., HomePower, Inc., Citicorp and Republic New York Corporation. Earlier, she was the founding Chair and Chief Executive Officer of the Polish-American Mortgage Bank. Dr. Britell’s extensive prior board service also includes serving as Lead Director for Aames Investment Corp., as a trustee for the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA-CREF), and as a director for Lincoln National Corp., in addition to numerous civic and philanthropic boards. Dr. Britell received a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia University and received a master’s degree and an undergraduate degree from Harvard University.

Mr. Busquet has served as a director of Onity Group since January 2016. Mr. Busquet was formerly Chief Risk Officer and Managing Director of Natixis North America LLC and a member of the Executive Committee from April 2008 to February 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Busquet was Executive Vice President and member of the Executive Committee of Canyon Americas (formerly Credit Lyonnais Americas) in charge of Risks, Compliance, Legal, Regulatory Affairs and Asset Recovery. Since 2021, Mr. Busquet has served as a director of Mizuho Securities USA, the US broker dealer of the Mizuho Financial Group, and a director of Mizuho Bank USA, a FDIC-regulated bank 100% owned by the Mizuho Financial Group. Since July 2016, Mr. Busquet has served as a director of Mizuho Americas LLC, the US Bank Holding Company of Mizuho Financial Group, Inc. Since 2005, Mr. Busquet has served as a director of Prolitec Inc., a privately-held commercial air scenting company. Mr. Busquet has previously served as a trustee of the Institute of International Bankers, and of the African Wildlife Foundation, which he also served as Audit Committee Chair. Mr. Busquet has a Master of Business Administration in Finance from each of The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Hautes Études Commercialese (HEC), Paris.

Ms. Merkle has served as a director of Onity Group since April 2024. Ms. Merkle serves as an Advisory Board member of HomeLend Inc. and is the former Chief Executive Officer of NMI Holdings Inc., a publicly traded private mortgage insurer and the parent company of National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI), a position she held from 2019 to 2021. Under her leadership, National MI was recognized on Fortune’s 100 Fastest-Growing Companies list in 2020 and was consistently recognized as one of the best places to work in the U.S. In 2021, Ms. Merkle was named one of the Most Influential Women in the Bay Area by the San Francisco Business Times. Prior to her role as CEO, Ms. Merkle held multiple executive leadership positions since joining National MI in 2012, including President; Chief Operating Officer; Executive Vice President, Chief of Insurance Operations; and Senior Vice President, Underwriting Fulfillment and Risk Operations. Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President, National and Regional Accounts, Risk and Operations, and previously as Managing Director at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. She holds a B.S. degree in management from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

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.