Treasury Announces Appointment of Key Members of Staff

Industry Update
January 25, 2021

Source: U.S. Department of the Treasury

WASHINGTON – Today, the United States Department of the Treasury announced new members of staff who will serve in key roles. These qualified, tested, and skilled leaders will join a team prepared to deliver results by getting the economy back on track, strengthening the financial system, and restoring jobs. These appointees represent diverse and varied communities and will put service to the American people at the forefront of their work. They also reflect the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to assembling a team of experts with diverse backgrounds

Biographies of the appointees are listed below in alphabetical order:

NATALIE WYETH EARNEST, COUNSELOR TO THE SECRETARY FOR STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS

Natalie Wyeth Earnest is returning to the Treasury Department after serving as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs during the Obama-Biden Administration. In that role, Earnest was the principal communications advisor to Secretary Jack Lew, and directed public affairs and external communications on issues including economic policy, domestic finance, tax policy, international affairs, and illicit finance. She also managed the communications for Secretary Lew’s confirmation by the U.S. Senate in 2013.  Earnest joined Treasury in 2009, under Secretary Tim Geithner, as the spokesperson for international affairs. Before joining the administration, she served as a spokesperson for the Presidential Inaugural Committee, the 2008 Obama-Biden campaign, and the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Prior to that, she was press secretary for Governor Kathleen Blanco’s Louisiana Recovery Authority, which focused on securing funding, establishing principles for redevelopment, and leading regional planning efforts to rebuild southern Louisiana in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Most recently, Earnest managed communications for Treasury Secretary-designate Yellen’s nomination as part of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition. Earnest received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern California. She lives on Chicago’s North Shore with her husband and their two children.

ARUNA KALYANAM, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TAX AND BUDGET, OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Aruna Kalyanam is a veteran of Capitol Hill, bringing over 21 years of experience in the tax policy legislative process with her to the Treasury Department’s Office of Legislative Affairs.  Kalyanam most recently served on the Ways and Means Committee as Deputy Chief Tax Counsel and Staff Director of the Select Revenue Measures (the dedicated tax policy Subcommittee) under Chairman Richard E. Neal and Subcommittee Chairman Mike Thompson. She has been involved in every major tax legislative package on Capitol Hill since 2001, and led the Ways and Means Committee’s policy development on renewable energy, energy efficiency, and infrastructure.  A native of Maryland, Kalyanam is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and the Washington College of Law at American University.

ALEXANDRA LAMANNA, SPOKESPERSON, OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

Alexandra LaManna joins the Treasury Department from Lyft, Inc., where she was Head of Corporate, Crisis, and Financial Communications. At Lyft, LaManna led strategic communications, crisis and issues management, rapid response, and thought leadership programs. She also served as Lyft’s primary spokesperson and led communications for its 2019 initial public offering. LaManna is a trusted senior advisor with more than a decade of experience advising C-suite executives navigating complex business, competitive, reputational, and regulatory challenges. Prior to Lyft, she was a counselor for the global advisory firm Sard Verbinnen where she worked with clients on corporate positioning, as well as on issues advocacy programs for organizations and high-profile individuals facing crises, regulatory investigations, high-stakes legal challenges, and other sensitive matters. LaManna also oversaw communications efforts for various Cabinet nominees as part of the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition. Originally from New Jersey, she is a graduate of Northwestern University.

ANGEL L. NIGAGLIONI, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR APPROPRIATIONS AND MANAGEMENT, OFFICE OF LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS

Angel L. Nigaglioni most recently served as Legislative Director and Counsel, as well as Appropriations Committee Associate Staff, to Congressman José E. Serrano, the Chairman of the Commerce, Justice, Science Appropriations Subcommittee and Vice-Chairman of the Financial Services and General Government Appropriations Subcommittee. Since 2013, Nigaglioni served under Congressman Serrano and worked on crafting, managing, and accomplishing Mr. Serrano’s legislative and appropriations priorities. Nigaglioni is a proud graduate from The George Washington University and Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Originally from Puerto Rico, he lives in Fairfax, Virginia with his wife.

ADITI HARDIKAR, SENIOR ADVISOR TO THE DEPUTY SECRETARY

Aditi Hardikar most recently served as the Leadership and Training Lead for the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition. She spent three years at the Obama Foundation, first as Chief of Staff with a focus on strategic planning and organizational growth, and then as the Acting Vice President for Operations on the development team, overseeing data and analytics, communications, and research. During the second term of the Obama-Biden Administration, Hardikar was Associate Director in the White House Office of Public Engagement, serving as the primary liaison to the LGBTQ and AAPI communities for issues including economic opportunity, health care, transgender rights, data collection, and youth homelessness. Hardikar served as Coalitions Finance Director for the Clinton-Kaine presidential campaign, helped lead LGBTQ fundraising and outreach efforts on the Obama-Biden reelection campaign, and led LGBTQ and AAPI fundraising and strategy at the Democratic National Committee. Hardikar is a proud graduate of the University of Michigan.

MARK J. MAZUR, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR TAX POLICY, OFFICE OF TAX POLICY

Mark J. Mazur was most recently the Robert C. Pozen Director of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, where he led the organization since 2017. Mazur has served in the federal government for 27 years in various positions.  He was a policy economist at the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation from 1989 to 1993. He then joined the Clinton-Gore Administration where he served in a number of roles, including: senior economist at the President’s Council of Economic Advisers; senior director at the National Economic Council; chief economist and senior policy adviser to the Secretary of Energy; Director of the Policy Office at the U.S. Department of Energy; and Acting Administrator of the Energy Information Administration. In 2001, he became the Director of Research, Analysis, and Statistics at the Internal Revenue Service. Mazur joined the Obama-Biden Administration in 2009 as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Tax Analysis in the Treasury Department’s Office of Tax Policy. In 2012, he was confirmed as the Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy, and he served in this role until early 2017. Before entering public service, Mazur was an assistant professor in Heinz College at Carnegie-Mellon University. He has a bachelor’s degree in financial administration from Michigan State University and a master’s degree in economics and a Ph.D. in business from Stanford University. A native of New Jersey, Mazur now lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.

DAMIAN RICHARDSON, SPECIAL ASSISTANT, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY

Damian Richardson served on the Biden-Harris Presidential Transition as the Executive Assistant to Secretary-designate Yellen and the Treasury transition team, working closely with the incoming Chief of Staff to prepare for day one of the Administration. During the 2020 general election, Richardson was a campus organizer in the key battleground state of Wisconsin. Richardson is a recent graduate of Harvard College and a native of Oak Park, Illinois.

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CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Alan Jaffa

Alan Jaffa is the chief executive officer for Safeguard, steering the company as the mortgage field services industry leader. He also serves on the board of advisors for SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.

Alan joined Safeguard in 1995, learning the business from the ground up. He was promoted to chief operating officer in 2002, and was named CEO in May 2010. His hands-on experience has given him unique insights as a leader to innovate, improve and strengthen Safeguard’s processes to assure that the company adheres to the highest standards of quality and customer service.

Under Alan’s leadership, Safeguard has grown significantly with strategies that have included new and expanded services, technology investments that deliver higher quality and greater efficiency to clients, and strategic acquisitions. He takes a team approach to process improvement, involving staff at all levels of the organization to address issues, brainstorm solutions, and identify new and better ways to serve clients.

In 2008, Alan was recognized by Crain’s Cleveland Business in its annual “40-Under-40” profile of young leaders. He also was named a NEO Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year® finalist in 2013.

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Chief Operating Officer

Michael Greenbaum

Michael Greenbaum is the chief operating officer for Safeguard. Mike has been instrumental in aligning operations to become more efficient, effective, and compliant with our ever-changing industry requirements. Mike has a proven track record of excellence, partnership and collaboration at Safeguard. Under Mike’s leadership, all operational departments of Safeguard have reviewed, updated and enhanced their business processes to maximize efficiency and improve quality control.

Mike joined Safeguard in July 2010 as vice president of REO and has continued to take on additional duties and responsibilities within the organization, including the role of vice president of operations in 2013 and then COO in 2015.

Mike built his business career in supply-chain management, operations, finance and marketing. He has held senior management and executive positions with Erico, a manufacturing company in Solon, Ohio; Accel, Inc., a packaging company in Lewis Center, Ohio; and McMaster-Carr, an industrial supply company in Aurora, Ohio.

Before entering the business world, Mike served in the U.S. Army, Ordinance Branch, and specialized in supply chain management. He is a distinguished graduate of West Point (U.S. Military Academy), where he majored in quantitative economics.

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CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER

Sean Reddington

Sean Reddington is the new Chief Information Officer for Safeguard Properties LLC. Sean has over 15+ years of experience in Information Services Management with a strong focus on Product and Application Management. Sean is responsible for Safeguard’s technological direction, including planning, implementation and maintaining all operational systems

Sean has a proven record of accomplishment for increasing operational efficiencies, improving customer service levels, and implementing and maintaining IT initiatives to support successful business processes.  He has provided the vision and dedicated leadership for key technologies for Fortune 100 companies, and nationally recognized consulting firms including enterprise system architecture, security, desktop and database management systems. Sean possesses strong functional and system knowledge of information security, systems and software, contracts management, budgeting, human resources and legal and related regulatory compliance.

Sean joined Safeguard Properties LLC from RenPSG Inc. which is a nationally leading Philintropic Software Platform in the Fintech space. He oversaw the organization’s technological direction including planning, implementing and maintaining the best practices that align with all corporate functions. He also provided day-to-day technology operations, enterprise security, information risk and vulnerability management, audit and compliance, security awareness and training.

Prior to RenPSG, Sean worked for DMI Consulting as a Client Success Director where he guided the delivery in a multibillion-dollar Fortune 500 enterprise client account. He was responsible for all project deliveries in terms of quality, budget and timeliness and led the team to coordinate development and definition of project scope and limitations. Sean also worked for KPMG Consulting in their Microsoft Practice and Technicolor’s Ebusiness Division where he had responsibility for application development, maintenance, and support.

Sean is a graduate of Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Arts and received his Masters in International Business from Central Michigan University. He was also a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force prior to his career in the business world.

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General Counsel and Executive Vice President

Linda Erkkila, Esq.

Linda Erkkila is the general counsel and executive vice president for Safeguard and oversees the legal, human resources, training, and compliance departments. Linda’s responsibilities cover regulatory issues that impact Safeguard’s operations, risk mitigation, enterprise strategic planning, human resources and training initiatives, compliance, litigation and claims management, and mergers, acquisition and joint ventures.

Linda assures that Safeguard’s strategic initiatives align with its resources, leverage opportunities across the company, and contemplate compliance mandates. Her practice spans over 20 years, and Linda’s experience covers regulatory disclosure, corporate governance compliance, risk assessment, executive compensation, litigation management, and merger and acquisition activity. Her experience at a former Fortune 500 financial institution during the subprime crisis helped develop Linda’s pro-active approach to change management during periods of heightened regulatory scrutiny.

Linda previously served as vice president and attorney for National City Corporation, as securities and corporate governance counsel for Agilysys Inc., and as an associate at Thompson Hine LLP. She earned her JD at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Linda holds a degree in economics from Miami University and an MBA. In 2017, Linda was named as both a “Woman of Influence” by HousingWire and as a “Leading Lady” by MReport.

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Chief Financial Officer

Joe Iafigliola

Joe Iafigliola is the Chief Financial Officer for Safeguard. Joe is responsible for the Control, Quality Assurance, Business Development, Accounting & Information Security departments, and is a Managing Director of SCG Partners, a middle-market private equity fund focused on diversifying and expanding Safeguard Properties’ business model into complimentary markets.

Joe has been in a wide variety of roles in finance, supply chain management, information systems development, and sales and marketing. His career includes senior positions with McMaster-Carr Supply Company, Newell/Rubbermaid, and Procter and Gamble.

Joe has an MBA from The Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University, is a Certified Management Accountant (CMA), and holds a bachelor’s degree from The Ohio State University’s Honors Accounting program.

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AVP, High Risk and Investor Compliance

Steve Meyer

Steve Meyer is the assistant vice president of high risk and investor compliance for Safeguard. In this role, Steve is responsible for managing our clients’ conveyance processes, Safeguard’s investor compliance team and developing our working relationships with cities and municipalities around the country. He also works directly with our clients in our many outreach efforts and he represents Safeguard at a number of industry conferences each year.

Steve joined Safeguard in 1998 as manager over the hazard claims team. He was instrumental in the development and creation of policies, procedures and operating protocol. Under Steve’s leadership, the department became one of the largest within Safeguard. In 2002, he assumed responsibility for the newly-formed high risk department, once again building its success. Steve was promoted to director over these two areas in 2007, and he was promoted to assistant vice president in 2012.

Prior to joining Safeguard, Steve spent 10 years within the insurance industry, holding a number of positions including multi-line property adjuster, branch claims supervisor, and multi-line and subrogation/litigation supervisor. Steve is a graduate of Grove City College.

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AVP, Operations

Jennifer Jozity

Jennifer Jozity is the assistant vice president of operations, overseeing inspections, REO and property preservation for Safeguard. Jen ensures quality work is performed in the field and internally, to meet and exceed our clients’ expectations. Jen has demonstrated the ability to deliver consistent results in order audit and order management.  She will build upon these strengths in order to deliver this level of excellence in both REO and property preservation operations.

Jen joined Safeguard in 1997 and was promoted to director of inspections operations in 2009 and assistant vice president of inspections operations in 2012.

She graduated from Cleveland State University with a degree in business.

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AVP, Finance

Jennifer Anspach

Jennifer Anspach is the assistant vice president of finance for Safeguard. She is responsible for the company’s national workforce of approximately 1,000 employees. She manages recruitment strategies, employee relations, training, personnel policies, retention, payroll and benefits programs. Additionally, Jennifer has oversight of the accounts receivable and loss functions formerly within the accounting department.

Jennifer joined the company in April 2009 as a manager of accounting and finance and a year later was promoted to director. She was named AVP of human capital in 2014. Prior to joining Safeguard, she held several management positions at OfficeMax and InkStop in both operations and finance.

Jennifer is a graduate of Youngstown State University. She was named a Crain’s Cleveland Business Archer Award finalist for HR Executive of the Year in 2017.

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AVP, Application Architecture

Rick Moran

Rick Moran is the assistant vice president of application architecture for Safeguard. Rick is responsible for evolving the Safeguard IT systems. He leads the design of Safeguard’s enterprise application architecture. This includes Safeguard’s real-time integration with other systems, vendors and clients; the future upgrade roadmap for systems; and standards designed to meet availability, security, performance and goals.

Rick has been with Safeguard since 2011. During that time, he has led the system upgrades necessary to support Safeguard’s growth. In addition, Rick’s team has designed and implemented several innovative systems.

Prior to joining Safeguard, Rick was director of enterprise architecture at Revol Wireless, a privately held CDMA Wireless provider in Ohio and Indiana, and operated his own consulting firm providing services to the manufacturing, telecommunications, and energy sectors.

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AVP, Technology Infrastructure and Cloud Services

Steve Machovina

Steve Machovina is the assistant vice president of technology infrastructure and cloud services for Safeguard. He is responsible for the overall management and design of Safeguard’s hybrid cloud infrastructure. He manages all technology engineering staff who support data centers, telecommunications, network, servers, storage, service monitoring, and disaster recovery.

Steve joined Safeguard in November 2013 as director of information technology operations.

Prior to joining Safeguard, Steve was vice president of information technology at Revol Wireless, a privately held wireless provider in Ohio and Indiana. He also held management positions with Northcoast PCS and Corecomm Communications, and spent nine years as a Coast Guard officer and pilot.

Steve holds a BBA in management information systems from Kent State University in Ohio and an MBA from Wayne State University in Michigan.

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Assistant Vice president of Application Development

Steve Goberish

Steve Goberish, is the assistant vice president of application development for Safeguard. He is responsible for the maintenance and evolution of Safeguard’s vendor systems ensuring high-availability, security and scalability while advancing the vendor products’ capabilities and enhancing the vendor experience.

Prior to joining Safeguard, Steve was a senior technical architect and development manager at First American Title Insurance, a publicly held title insurance provider based in southern California, in addition to managing and developing applications in multiple sectors from insurance to VOIP.

Steve has a bachelor’s degree from Kent State University in Ohio.