Leadership
Executive Team
Stephen H. Gordon
Founding Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Mr. Gordon is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Bank. Mr. Gordon has over 35 years of financial industry experience, including serving as Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Opus Bank; Founding Chairman and CEO of Commercial Capital Bank and its savings and loan holding company, Commercial Capital Bancorp, Inc; as well as Chairman and CEO of Fremont Investment and Loan and its holding company, Fremont General Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Gordon served as a Partner at Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., a New York based investment banking firm.
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Jennifer Simmons
President and Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Simmons is responsible for overseeing the operations, day-to-day administration, and business development processes of Genesis Bank. Ms. Simmons is a 27-year banking veteran, having most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Ms. Simmons held senior leadership positions at Union Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
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Brian Fitzmaurice
EVP, Senior Chief Credit Officer
Mr. Fitzmaurice is responsible for the overall credit quality of the loan portfolio, administrative and operational matters pertaining to lending, and loan servicing and processing for Genesis Bank. Mr. Fitzmaurice is a veteran banker with 38 years of extensive experience in credit and risk management, most recently serving as Vice Chairman and Senior Chief Credit Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Fitzmaurice held various senior credit risk management positions, including Chief Credit Officer at City National Bank, a subsidiary of Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), where he was also a member of RBC’s global risk committee, and Citigroup, where he was the national risk manager for middle market lending.
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William Han
EVP, Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Han is responsible for Genesis Bank’s finance functions, including financial planning and analysis, asset-liability and treasury management, accounting, and financial reporting. Mr. Han is a CPA with 15 years of banking industry accounting and finance experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President – Finance and Deputy Chief Financial Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Han was a senior manager at KPMG LLP, working as an auditor in the banking and financial services practice.
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Andres Gallardo
EVP, Chief Legal and Risk Officer
Mr. Gallardo is responsible for overseeing Genesis Bank’s legal, internal controls and regulatory compliance, and audit and risk assessment processes. Mr. Gallardo has over 15 years of banking experience, most recently serving as Senior Vice President – Deputy General Counsel at Opus Bank, as well as General Counsel of PENSCO Trust Company, a subsidiary of Opus Bank. Mr. Gallardo’s prior banking experience includes positions held at Silvergate Bank, U.S. Bank, and San Diego National Bank. Mr. Gallardo holds FINRA Series 63 and 79 Licenses and is an active member of the State Bar of California.
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Board of Directors
Stephen H. Gordon
Founding Chairman
Mr. Gordon is the Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer of Genesis Bank. Mr. Gordon has over 35 years of financial industry experience, including serving as Founding Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President of Opus Bank; Founding Chairman and CEO of Commercial Capital Bank and its savings and loan holding company, Commercial Capital Bancorp, Inc; as well as Chairman and CEO of Fremont Investment and Loan and its holding company, Fremont General Corporation. Additionally, Mr. Gordon served as a Partner at Sandler O’Neill + Partners, L.P., a New York based investment banking firm.
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Jennifer Simmons
Vice Chair
Ms. Simmons is responsible for overseeing the operations, day-to-day administration, and business development processes of Genesis Bank. Ms. Simmons is a 27-year banking veteran, having most recently served as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of Opus Bank. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Ms. Simmons held senior leadership positions at Union Bank, Wachovia, Wells Fargo, and Bank of America.
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Marsie Alford
Director
Ms. Alford has more than 25 years of accounting and finance experience, and currently serves as Chief Financial Officer of the Jewish Federation & Family Services of Orange County (JFFS). Prior to joining JFFS, Ms. Alford served as an accounting and finance consultant, advising manufacturing, healthcare, E-commerce, real estate, aerospace, retail, investment, legal, and non-profit businesses with annual revenues ranging from $5M to $15B. Ms. Alford previously held executive finance positions for several nonprofits, including Make-a-Wish Foundation of Los Angeles, Southern California Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation, and East Bronx Daycare Center, Inc., in New York, where she directed the accounting, finance, human resources, operations, fiscal reporting activities, internal control processes, asset management, and policies and procedures at those organizations.
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Warren J. Kessler
Director
Mr. Kessler is an attorney, currently serving as a Partner at Greenberg Glusker where he represents institutions, large real estate portfolio owners, private businesses, and high-net-worth individuals in connection with tax structuring of complex real estate transactions as well as the restructuring of partnerships and limited liability companies that own large parcels of real estate. Prior to joining Greenberg Glusker, Mr. Kessler was a Partner at DLA Piper, a global law firm, and previously spent 30 years at his own law firm, Kessler & Kessler, A Law Corporation, which represented private businesses, high net worth individuals, and institutions in tax law, real estate law, estate planning, and corporate law matters. Mr. Kessler is involved in numerous charitable and pro bono activities, most notably serving as General Counsel to the Wilshire Boulevard Temple board of trustees, and is a former Chair and Director of California Housing Partnership Corporation and representative of the Cornell University Development Fund, and is involved with the St. Vincent Meals on Wheels Program.
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Tam Nguyen
Director
Mr. Nguyen is the President; co-owner of Advance Beauty College with campuses in Garden Grove and Laguna Hills, California. Nearly 50,000 graduates have gone through the innovative program in its 33-year history with training from leading educators and industry professionals. Advance Beauty College has won numerous awards including the 2020 National School Spirit Award given by the American Association of Cosmetology Schools for its exemplary industry leadership, and 2020 National Philanthropy Day Honoree for outstanding business of the year. Mr. Nguyen is an active and dedicated member of his industry and greater community. He serves on numerous boards and is a member of leading organizations such as the Orange County United Way, Vietnamese American Chamber of Commerce, Pacific Trade Culture Alliance, Orange Coast Memorial Community Benefits Foundation, Garden Grove Community Foundation, Orange County Transportation Authority Diverse Leaders Council, Center for Leadership, Center for Family Business and Cal State Fullerton Philanthropic Board of Governors. Additionally, from 2010-2016, Mr. Nguyen served on the national board of directors for American Association of Cosmetology Schools, representing hundreds of beauty; wellness academies.
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Richard Sanchez
Director
Mr. Sanchez is a seasoned banker with more than 30 years of banking and related experience. Mr. Sanchez previously served as a director on the Opus Bank Board of Directors, and as the Chief Risk Officer and Chief Administrative Officer, while being a member of the ALCO Committee, Benefits Committee, Project Management Committee, Executive Committee, Compliance Disclosure Committee, and BSA Working Group. Prior to joining Opus Bank, Mr. Sanchez served as an Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of Fremont General Corporation and Fremont Reorganizing Corporation, as well as a director, Chief Administrative Officer and Corporate Secretary for Commercial Capital Bancorp, Inc. and its subsidiary, Commercial Capital Bank. From 1993 to 2002, Mr. Sanchez was Deputy Regional Director for the Office of Thrift Supervision (“OTS”) in the Western Region, where he supervised examiners responsible for and planned and directed the examination and supervision of 85 insured financial institutions.
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Sandor Valner
Director
Mr. Valner is the founder and CEO of Network Bankers, a Los Angeles based tech-enabled investment bank he founded in 2020 to provide services to a global network of 30,000 CEOs and accredited investors. Prior to Network Bankers, he was a founder/leader of two investment banking platforms and a private equity real estate investment management group. Through these companies, he has led more than $20 billion in capital raising, mergers and acquisitions, and real estate investment transactions. Mr. Valner also held positions as a partner at Walton Street Capital and CEO of VALOR, a boutique investment bank focused on real estate and financial restructuring. Additionally, Mr. Valner worked at Credit Suisse First Boston in their global privatizations group in New York, where he became the CEO of the bank’s Mexico operations. Mr. Valner’s current board activities include Leadership Council of UCLA´s Depression Grand Challenge, YPO´s Alliance to End Homelessness, Progresemos, IngeniousIO, and FIHO.
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