Chairman
Barbara Griest
President
Trident Land Transfer Company
 

Barbara Griest is President of Trident Land Transfer Company, the country’s fourth largest real estate owned title insurance agency and affiliated title operation for Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors located in Devon, Pennsylvania. Ms. Griest has been with TLTC for 25 years. Her responsibilities include overseeing and managing the Conveyancing Dept. for Prudential Fox & Roach as well as the title company.

Prior to joining Trident she started and ran a mortgage operation for Hoopes, Inc, Better Homes and Gardens located outside of Philadelphia.

Prudential Fox & Roach Realtors/ Trident is located in the greater Philadelphia area with offices in Southeastern Pa., New Jersey and Delaware and the Lehigh Valley. In 2011, TLTC closed 10,000 transactions totaling $3.1 billion.

Ms. Griest currently serves as a representative for Trident on the board of the Real Estate Service Providers Organization and is a member of the Pennsylvania Home Builders Association, the Realty Alliance, and the Pennsylvania and New Jersey Land Title Associations. Barbara is a licensed title agent in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware. She also organized and ran the national annual title meetings for The Realty Alliance Title Affiliates in 2010 and 2011.

Barbara attended Widener University and West Chester University in Business Administration.

Vice Chairman
Kevin Klein
President
Tenura Holdings, Inc.

Kevin Klein was born and raised in Fort Dodge, Iowa.  He attended the University of Iowa and graduated with a Bachelor’s of Business Administration degree in 1985.

After graduating college, he moved to Austin, Texas where he joined James Mansour at National Telecommunications, which was later acquired by LDDS Communications.  Over the next decade, LDDS and its successors went on to acquire nearly 70 companies across the country including LDS Metromedia, Wiltel, UUNET, and MCI- the largest corporate merger in US History at the time. 

During his 18 year telecom career, Mr. Klein served in a variety of roles as the company grew to over $40 billion in revenues and more than 70,000 employees worldwide, including; Director of Business Consulting Services, Director of Sales and Operations, Vice President of Customer Service and Vice President of Service and Operations.  In 2004, Mr. Klein launched his own business consulting firm with his wife Terry, a Certified Public Accountant. 

In 2005, Mr. Klein was consulting with an Austin based real estate brokerage startup in which Mr. Mansour was the majority investor. With a vision of bundling services similar to their telecom days, he joined as President, helping the company launch several new ventures including Reliant Title in 2006, Private Label Realty in 2008, AmeriFirst Insurance in 2009 and the acquisition of AmeriPro Funding, a mortgage bank, in 2008.  Mr. Klein was also instrumental in the development of the Tenura Home Center, a state of the art real estate facility that offers access to Realtors, loan officers, escrow officers and insurance agents, all in a single location.  From those humble beginnings, Tenura Holdings’ and affiliated companies have expanded in Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado completing over 11,000 transactions in 2012.  

Mr. Klein serves on the board of Tenura Holdings, Inc. and AmeriPro Funding.  He also serves as an Executive Board Member of RESPRO, the Real Estate Services Providers Council, in Washington, D.C.

Kevin and his wife Terry have two daughters and reside in Austin, Texas.  

 
2012 Chairman
Mark D. Steele
President, Affiliated Businesses
Howard Hanna Financial Group

Mark, a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, began his mortgage banking career in 1971. In 1978, Mark joined Howard Hanna Real Estate Services. In 1980, he was elected Vice President of Hanna’s Western Sales Division. Three years later, as Executive Vice President, he was responsible for establishing Howard Hanna Financial Services, Inc., and today, as President, oversees all facets of the day-to-day operation of the company. Under his direction, Howard Hanna Financial has become a full service mortgage banker; originating and servicing mortgage loans, as well as operating a wholesale division, lending in ten states. In 2010 the Hanna organization originated over 6,500 mortgage loans for a volume of $1,000,000,000.

Mark heads the Howard Hanna Financial Group. In this capacity, he is responsible for supervising the activities of not only Hanna Financial, but oversees Barristers Land Abstract Company, Hanna’s title insurance agency; Hanna Insurance Services and Hanna Appraisal Services. He also sits on the Executive Committee for Hanna Holdings, the parent company of Howard Hanna Real Estate Services and its affiliates.

In 2010, Howard Hanna Financial Services was ranked fifth in mortgage closings, the title company, Barrister’s Land Abstract, ranked sixth, and the insurance agency, Howard Hanna Insurance Services ranked first nationally among Real Trends magazine’s “Top 500 Real Estate Firms”. The real estate company, Howard Hanna Company, ranked the fourth largest full-service real estate company in the country.

Mark is a past President and former Director of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Western Pennsylvania. He is also a former member of the Advisory Board of the Pennsylvania Mortgage Bankers Association, the group instrumental in establishing the Pennsylvania Mortgage Bankers Association. Mark is an Executive Board Member of RESPRO, the real estate providers and settlement services council, in Washington, D.C.

He is a former Chairman and Director of the Dozen Mortgage Group and current member of the Board of Managers of the Realty Alliance Mortgage Group. Both are organizations of top independently owned and operated residential realty firms with mortgage companies, across the country whose objectives are to provide a forum in which member organizations can brainstorm, share ideas and critique the operations of fellow members to enhance performance and profitability.

His community activities include his appointment as Director and Treasurer for the West Pittsburgh Partnership, a community based non-profit organization in the City of Pittsburgh, whose initiatives include community development, low income housing and neighborhood employment services. Mark also is a former board member and Chairman of Pittsburgh’s affiliate chapter of Habitat for Humanity, an organization dedicated to providing simple descent housing to Allegheny County families. In 1993 he was nominated for President Clinton’s Volunteer Action Award.

Mark resides in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with his wife Jocelyn. He has four children and six grandchildren. We welcome you to visit our worldwide website on the Internet at www.howardhanna.com.

Sue Johnson has served as President and Executive Director of the Real Estate Services Providers Council, Inc. (RESPRO®), a national non-profit trade association devoted to promoting a federal and state regulatory environment that enables providers offer diversified services for home buyers through business alliances, since she founded the organization in 1993.

Prior to founding RESPRO®, Ms. Johnson served as Director of Government Relations for the Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group.  In this position, she was liaison to Congress, state legislatures and the Federal and state regulatory agencies on behalf of the Coldwell Banker Residential Group, Sears Mortgage Corporation, Sears Savings Bank of Homart Development Corporation.

From 1987 to 1989, Ms. Johnson was Legislative Counsel for Sears, Roebuck and Co., where she represented the Sears Financial Network’s ability to offer and cross-market diversified financial services before Congress and the Federal regulatory agencies.

From 1982 to 1987, Ms. Johnson represented the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) before Congress as Senior Legislative Assistant.  She served as Legislative Director for Congressman Frank Wolf (R-VA) in 1981, and as Attorney-Advisor for the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs from 1977-1980.

Ms. Johnson received her J.D. and B.S. with honors from the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Nebraska.  She is a member of the District of Columbia, Nebraska, and American Bar Associations.

Tom Klein is Senior Vice President and Southeast Regional Manager of WFG National Title Insurance Company.   a national title insurer headquartered in Lake Oswego, Oregon.  In his role, Klein is responsible for management and business growth in nine eastern and southeastern states.  Concurrently, Klein serves on the company’s leadership team that serves customers national in scope.

A 30 year veteran of the settlement services industry, Klein joined WFG immediately following his service as Vice President and co-owner of Alliance Solutions, LLC, a national consulting firm specializing in business process and compliance consultation for title agencies and title insurers.

Before joining Alliance Solutions, Klein spent 22 years as an officer with one of the industry’s largest title insurance companies.  Prior to his years with the insurer, Klein was the president and founder of Virginia Escrow & Title Company, Richmond’s largest independent title agency when it was sold in 1987.  Prior to entering the title industry, he practiced real estate law with a private law firm.

Klein has held community leadership positions in Virginia,  either as president or chair of the following organizations:  Virginia Land Title Association, Special Olympics Virginia, Beth Ahabah Museum and Archives Trust, and Richmond Business Council of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce.

Klein received his Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of Virginia and his Juris Doctor at the University of Richmond School of Law.

Klein resides in Richmond, Virginia with his wife Cheryl and their four children.
 

President, Long & Foster Financial Services of The Long & Foster Companies, Inc., a privately-owned company with combined sales for all Long & Foster Companies totaling $65.1 billion, nearly 19,000 sales associates and employees, and 257 branch offices in seven states and the District of Columbia.

Serves as Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of Long & Foster Real Estate, Inc., Long & Foster Institute of Real Estate, Inc., Mid-States Title Insurance Agency, Long & Foster Licensing Company, Inc., Prosperity Mortgage Corp. and Vision Relocation, LLC, and serves as President, Secretary and member of the Board of Directors of subsidiaries including Metro Referral Associates, Inc., and Long & Foster Land Holdings, Inc.  Joined the company in 1972 as Controller, then promoted to Financial Vice President, Senior Vice President, Executive Vice President, and in January 2003, President, Long & Foster Financial Services.

• University of Virginia Graduate School of Business - MBA (1972) Manhattan College - BBA (1967)
• Certified Public Accountant
• Certified Financial Planner
• Virginia Real Estate License

Captain, Inactive Reserve, United States Marine Corps, (1967-1970). Served as rifle platoon commander, communications platoon commander, infantry regiment communications officer, and communications watch officer, including a 13-month combat tour in Vietnam. Top Secret clearance.