Media Resources

Alex Elezaj is UWM’s Chief Strategy Officer, a role in which he is laser focused on growing the mortgage broker channel as a whole. Prior to joining the company in 2018, Alex served as Chief Executive Officer of Class Appraisal, Inc, which he led to become one of the nation’s largest and most successful appraisal management companies. In 2018, Alex led the sale of the company to private equity, which has continued to be a great success. He is a 2017 HousingWire Vanguard award winner, a member of the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) and has been recognized as one of National Mortgage Professional magazine’s “40 Under 40.” Alex received a bachelor’s degree from Walsh College of Accountancy and Business Administration, and an MBA from Michigan State University.

Sarah DeCiantis has been UWM’s Chief Marketing Officer since 2017. In this position, she leads all marketing, advertising, and external and internal communications efforts. She joined UWM in 2014 as Vice President, Marketing; prior to that, she was the Director of Partnership Marketing for Palace Sports and Entertainment and the Detroit Pistons. She also worked for 10 years at nationally recognized advertising agencies including Doner, Campbell-Ewald and McCann Worldgroup. Sarah was recognized as one of the mortgage industry’s “Hot 100” by Mortgage Professional America in 2019 and was named one of the “Top 40 under 40” by National Mortgage Professional magazine in 2017. She was also awarded the 2019 Vanguard award by HousingWire. Most recently, Sarah was awarded the Crain’s Detroit Business “40 under 40” award for 2020. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Wayne State University.

Blake Kolo is the Chief Business Officer and Head of Investor Relations for UWM in which he brings an unparalleled combination of accounting, finance and sales to the executive team. His primary focus is the management of UWM’s mortgage funding operation. His team drives maximum efficiency in the utilization of warehouse lines of credit in order to wire and fund mortgages. He also leads many special initiatives aimed at accelerating business development. Prior to joining UWM in 2019, he was Managing Director at The Siegfried Group, an accounting and finance advisory firm. Blake is a Certified Public Accountant, a Certified Valuation Examiner, a Certified Fraud Examiner and is Certified in Financial Forensics. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Michigan State University.

Tim Forrester is UWM’s Chief Financial Officer, a position that makes ample use of his ability to prepare for divergent outcomes in a highly variable business. He oversees all financial aspects of the organization, from financial reporting to liquidity management, and even though his depth with numbers is expected, Tim brings a relationship-first service philosophy to the table in all aspects of his work. Tim has 30+ years of experience including client service, auditing, accounting, financial reporting, hedging, capital markets, consulting, mergers & acquisitions, compliance, risk management, litigation support, as well as leading teams of varied sizes and depth of technical focus. Tim’s prior experiences extend beyond mortgage companies, including finance/leasing companies, merchant credit card processors and depository institutions which helps to draw on greater potential solutions. Prior to joining UWM in 2012, Tim was a partner in the Capital Markets Group at Deloitte & Touche USA LLP as well as an audit partner where he led the firm’s national mortgage banking practice as well as the development and leadership of an office. Tim was also a member of Mortgage Bankers’ Association of America’s Finance Committee for many years and was elected as a member of the MBA’s Commercial Mortgage Board of Governors, where he was the only Big 4 representative. Tim received a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University.