Our Leadership Team

Meet the experienced professionals who guide Anza's mission to revolutionize the mortgage insurance experience through technology and operational excellence.

25+

Average Years Experience

Industry Leaders

100%

Commitment to Excellence

Chris Gamaitoni

Chief Executive Officer

Chris leads our strategic planning, business development, financial operations, and overall company management. Chris brings nearly 20 years of experience in mortgage insurance and mortgage finance. Before founding Anza, he served as a Managing Director at Tilden Park Capital Management LP. His career also includes serving as Director of Research at Compass Point Research & Trading, LLC, where he specialized in mortgage finance companies, and as a Partner at Autonomous Research. Additionally, Chris has held mortgage finance and insurance analytical roles at Millennium Partners, Compass Point, and Fannie Mae. He earned a B.S. in Quantitative Finance from James Madison University.

Rick Altman

Chief Operating Officer

Rick has over 35 years of experience in financial services operations and an extensive private mortgage insurance background. Before Anza, he held a number of senior positions at Radian, serving as the Chief Administrative Officer, the Chief Risk Officer, and the Chief Information Officer. Additionally, Rick served as the Chief Operating Officer at Radian Guaranty from June 2010 to January 2015. Rick served as the Head of National Operations at Doma (a title insurance company) and as an advisor to Pippin Title. He has held executive positions at Citibank, American Express, and Arch Mortgage Insurance. Rick earned a B.A. in Political Economy from the University of California at Berkeley and an M.B.A. from New York University's Stern School of Business.

Heather Lasher

Chief Accounting Officer

Heather has over 25 years of audit and accounting experience in the financial services industry. Before joining Anza, Heather worked at National Mortgage Insurance Corporation serving as the Senior Director, Assistant Controller and Director of SEC Reporting and Accounting Policy. From 2008 to 2018, she worked in Finance at Bank of America in various functions, including Accounting Policy and SEC Reporting. Previously, from 1997 to 2018, Heather worked in audit at KPMG with a focus on the financial services industry. Heather earned a B.S. in Accounting from Appalachian State University.

Nicole Sanchez

General Counsel

Nicole's legal career spans nearly 27 years. She spent over 17 of those years developing deep expertise in the mortgage insurance and (re)insurance industries, including servicing as Vice President, Associate General Counsel at National Mortgage Insurance Corporation, Vice President, Assistant General Counsel at PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., and Vice President, Senior Legal Counsel for Aspen Insurance Group. Before joining Anza, Nicole served as General Counsel and Corporate Secretary of Leafly Holdings, Inc. In each of her former roles, Nicole was responsible for managing all aspects of SEC and Nasdaq compliance, corporate governance, and other corporate-related matters. Nicole earned her B.A. in American Studies and Studies in the Environment from Yale University and a J.D. from the University of California Berkeley School of Law.

Cristian Lopez

Chief Risk Officer

Cristian has almost 20 years of experience in financial services, specifically in mortgage credit risk analytics. Before joining Anza, Cristian served as the Vice President of Data Solutions at Experience LLC. Previously, he was a Principal at Amazon between 2020 and 2021. Between 2006 and 2020, Cristian was at Fannie Mae, leading modeling and analytic teams in Fannie Mae's Capital Markets, Servicing, and Acquisition divisions. Cristian earned a B.A. in Economics and Government Politics from the University of Maryland - College Park and an M.B.A. from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland - College Park.

Bryan Specht

Head of Mortgage Insurance Operations

Bryan's career in financial services spans 31 years, with an emphasis on mortgage operations. Before joining Anza, Bryan was the Director, Mortgage Compliance and Risk for First Horizon. Before that, he held senior roles at MGIC, including Vice President of Underwriting, Vice President of Policy Acquisition and Servicing, and Director of Product Development. Over his career, he has held various senior-level roles with Stonegate Mortgage, Citibank, GMAC Mortgage, and United Guaranty. Bryan earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Comprehensive Accounting from Western State College.

Yami Pardino

Head of Policy Servicing & Claims Administration

Yami brings over 30 years of experience in the finance industry. Her career spans leadership roles across mortgage insurance, mortgage servicing, student debt management, and credit card operations. Before joining Anza, Yami served as the leader of Servicing Operations at Republic Mortgage Insurance Company. She has also held key positions in Enterprise Risk Management at Wachovia, and at Barclays Capital, serving as Collections Site Manager and Learning and Development Manager, directing training programs and overseeing operations in mortgage servicing and student debt management. Earlier in her career, she managed credit card operations for First Union National Bank. Yami earned a Bachelor of Arts from Florida International University.

Andrea Kirby Easter

Chief Operational Risk Officer

Andrea has over 20 years of experience in financial services, specifically in mortgage origination, mortgage insurance, mortgage servicing, quality control, and mortgage regulation. Before joining Anza, Andrea served as the Chief Compliance Officer at two Non-Bank Mortgage Lenders. Before that, she was a Senior Financial Examiner for the North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks, where she led examinations of Mortgage Companies licensed for the state of North Carolina in coordination with other states and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Andrea earned a B.A. in English Literature and Professional Writing from the University of North Carolina - Wilmington.

Bob Bradford

VP of Credit Risk & Modeling

Bob guides our econometric model specification choices. He has 23 years of experience in automated underwriting estimation, loan transition, loss given default and other models that underpin loan pricing, valuation, and loss forecasting. Before Anza, Bob spent 19 years at Fannie Mae building models and managing a team of modelers. Before that, Bob held positions in modeling at Wachovia, Washington Mutual, and GMAC RFC. Bob earned a B.A. cum laude in economics from Princeton University and an M.A. in economics from the Johns Hopkins University.