Senior Staff Bios
Scott Gordon is the founder, President & CEO, of Open Mortgage. Scott comes from a high tech and entrepreneurial background. Scott has a BS in software engineering from Arizona State. Scott has started multiple companies, including C.A.R.E. Solutions, Brava Services, CreditMinders, and Open Mortgage, and has been an investor and board member in others, like Integratus, Heliovolt, and Open Lending. Open Mortgage has given Scott the opportunity to bring a high tech background and interest in business efficiency to Mortgage and Finance world.
Richard Woodruff joined Open Mortgage in April 2009 as it's CFO. Prior to joining Open, he spent over 25 years in financial positions for publically traded companies, international firms, CPA firms, and was an Austin Business Journal's "CFO of the Year" nominee in 2008. Richard's practice has focused on the mortgage banking industry since 2004. He truly enjoys the mortgage banking industry. He almost always answers his cell phone. If he does not answer his cell phone, he is most likely on a cruise somewhere in the caribbean.
Richard received a Masters degree in Accounting and Taxation from the University of Houston - Clear Lake. He graduated from UT Austin in 1983 and was licenced as a CPA in 1987.
Greg Block, is the VP of Lending. Greg has over 20 years of executive and senior management positions in operations, logistics, customer service, and sales. Throughout his career, Mr. Block has been involved in building, managing, and improving operational and sales processes to increase sales efficiency and profit. Prior to joining Open Mortgage, Mr. Block was co-owner, President, and CEO of Mortex Lending, Ltd. a HUD Direct Endorsement Mortgage Banking business he started after holding the positions of CIO & Executive Vice President of Operations at MBI Mortgage Inc. and Chief Operating Officer at Northland Funding Group Ltd. In addition to the mortgage industry, Mr. Block has held senior management positions with both start-ups and large organizations in the telecom and technology industries including Point One Telecommunications, CenturyTel Telecommunications, IPC Technologies, and Dell Computer. While at Dell Computer, Mr. Block created the infrastructure and processes for the creation of DellWare, the software and peripherals division of Dell Computer. Mr. Block also served in the United States Air Force for 5 years as Managing Crew Chief for the 555th Aircraft Maintenance Unit of the Tactical Air Command.
Howard Wayland is our Executive Coach. Howard is a recognized leader known for launching, developing and managing fast growing corporate enterprises with limited financial resources. He has recruited and built sales teams of over 1,300 sales associates in over 250 offices throughout the nation. He has led these associates to produce more than $2.1 Billion in annual sales. Howard was an originator and pioneer in Profit-based branching in the mortgage industry, and was President and CEO of Amstar Mortgage.
Mr. Wayland’s understanding of markets, branding, and applied research have led to exponential increases in markets he developed. For each major enterprise launch, he has developed comprehensive business plans and led strategic planning for these enterprises to obtain this growth. Additionally, Mr. Wayland has consulted for numerous banks, mortgage companies, marketing companies and other service-oriented businesses to develop sales and marketing improvements and assist each in reaching specific goals through planning and execution.
Pam McCollum is the Compliance Manager. Pam joined Open Mortgage LLC in November, 2009. She has been in the mortgage industry for over 25 years. Her background includes underwriting, quality control/fraud investigation, third party origination management and National Production Support. She started as a loan originator for a year in northern California. A native of Dallas, Texas, Pam relocated to Austin in 2008.
Lorenzo Gordon is co-founder and Chief Technical Officer. Lorenzo has a BS in Math from Iowa State University and a MS in Computer Engineering form Arizona State University. He brings over 30 years of programming design experience to Open Mortgage and is responsible for the company web tool set known as CABO. From day one the focus of Open Mortgage has been applying technology to make our company more efficient and competitive. During his career Lorenzo has accomplished significant contract assignments for many large computer companies such as IBM, Motorola, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Varian, and Veritas.
Phil Risch is the Head of Sales & Marketing. Phil has a BSEE from UC Berkeley and an MSEE from Colorado State. Phil has 36 years experience in Real Estate, Mortgage, and Title, and has been a driver for technology change. Phil has been a speaker and advocate for high tech innovation at national, state, and local conferences for over 20 years. Phil has also served many roles as a mentor and trainer.
Linda Claborn is the Head of Human Resources & Administration Services. Linda has spent many years working with the public and has an extensive background in administration in the mortgage industry as well as the insurance field. Born and raised in Texas, Linda moved to Austin in 2007 to help build "the best place for a loan officer to work". Linda brings her knowledge of the Open Mortgage system presented with a Texas twang.
