Honored in Boston
Bruce Marks, a fair-lending advocate who has been a thorn in the side of some in the banking industry for two decades, has been named the 2007 Bostonian of the Year by The Boston Globe Magazine.The Sunday magazine chose Mr. Marks, the founder and chief executive officer of the nonprofit Neighborhood Assistance Corp. of America, for his 20 years of work fighting predatory lending practices.
The NACA advocates nationwide for full-documentation lending, low fixed rates for all borrowers, and restructuring subprime adjustable-rate mortgages for homeowners facing foreclosure because of rate resets. The Boston nonprofit also raises money to provide low-interest loans.
"For The Boston Globe to pick myself and NACA really is quite an honor," Mr. Marks said in an interview Thursday. "Generally, with these kinds of things, you see politicians, sports heroes, and celebrities chosen. I think what it does is give all the people who work at NACA the recognition they richly deserve."
Editors at the Globe cited the mortgage meltdown and Mr. Marks' most recent work to help families avoid foreclosure. Through its Home Save Program, the NACA has committed $1 billion to refinancings and has worked with several lenders to rewrite unaffordable loans for troubled borrowers.
Mr. Marks also negotiated an agreement to restructure many of Countrywide Financial Corp.'s ARMs into long-term fixed-rate mortgages, the paper said.
This is the fourth year that the magazine has selected a Bostonian of the Year. The previous winners were Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts; Edward Ginsburg, who blew the whistle on problems with the Big Dig project; and Theo Epstein, the general manager of the Boston Red Sox.
Sterling Directors
Sterling Financial Corp. of Spokane added a pair of members to its board of directors: Katherine Anderson, the chief financial officer for the Seattle Opera, and Ellen Boyer, the CFO and chief operating officer of Kibble & Prentice Holding Co., a Seattle financial services company.The two new directors took their seats on the board last month, Sterling said Thursday.
As the Seattle Opera's first CFO, Ms. Anderson has upgraded its budgeting and forecasting processes and improved cross-departmental collaboration, bank relationships, and investment processes, Sterling said in a press release announcing the appointment.
Ms. Boyer oversees Kibble & Prentice operations and direct management of finance, human resources, information technology, facilities, and compliance departments.
Sterling's board now has 11 members.
