Skip to main content

Strategic hires will support Cornerstone’s continued growth and innovation

July 22, 2024 — Houston, Texas — Cornerstone Capital Bank, a preeminent national provider of mortgage origination and servicing solutions and consumer, commercial and institutional banking services, has expanded its leadership team with seven key hires, further strengthening its growing financial services franchise.

Patrick Ramsier has joined Cornerstone as president, capital markets CRE, bringing over 35 years of commercial real estate finance experience. Prior to Cornerstone, he built successful on-book commercial real estate platforms at both LegacyTexas Bank and Southside Bank, where he originated $7 billion in committed volume and managed multi-billion-dollar portfolios. He also served as a senior executive at two local real estate development companies specializing in acquisitions and finance.

As Senior Vice President of Strategic Partnerships, Mike Iorio is spearheading the nationwide expansion of Cornerstone’s world-class Homebuilder Partnership business, with a focus on cultivating new relationships and enhancing service offerings. Iorio brings over 25 years of banking and mortgage experience and has held executive roles at NewRez, Wells Fargo, CMG Financial, Citywide Home Loans and Stearns Lending.

Noah Elrod brings over 15 years of industry experience as senior vice president and director of treasury services, where he will lead Cornerstone’s new corporate treasury sales and advisory business set to launch in Q4 2024. Using the latest available technologies, Cornerstone is designing new products to fulfill the needs of hundreds of partners and offering the lowest fees in the industry. Most recently, Elrod held a similar position at American National Bank & Trust and has also held leadership roles with Independent Financial and Wells Fargo.

Dana Abernathy joined as vice president of loan servicing business development, where she will be expanding the company’s mortgage loan servicing operations. Abernathy has 35 years of industry experience and has held leadership roles at Computershare Loan Services, National MI and PMI Mortgage Insurance Company.

Cara Williams joined Cornerstone as senior vice president, chief compliance officer. Williams most recently served as a Principal with Spinnaker Consulting Group. She brings more than 20 years of experience working with some of the nation’s largest banks and mortgage operations, including Wells Fargo and First Citizens Bank.

Gina Darcy joined as senior vice president, managing director, project management & risk reporting. With over 20 years of experience, Darcy has held senior roles at Bank of the West, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase.

As Vice President of Marketing, Thu-Lynn “TL” Nguyen will be responsible for expanding Cornerstone’s market and brand presence and developing its enterprise-wide sales teams. Nguyen has spearheaded several groundbreaking strategic and business development initiatives during her 15-year career in the mortgage industry, including the creation of a lead-generating mobile app and the successful implementation of multiple CRM technology platforms. She has been recognized as a HousingWire Rising Stars recipient, named among Houston Business Journal’s Women on the Move, and is well known for her work with the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers Association (NAMMBA), where she is a member and panel speaker. Previously, she served as Vice President of Marketing at InterLinc Mortgage and held marketing leadership roles at NRL Mortgage and Envoy Mortgage.

“Cornerstone’s strength starts with our caring, experienced team members and our award-winning culture,” said Scott Almy, Cornerstone President and CEO. “By investing in talented leaders to augment our existing top-tier teams, we are positioning Cornerstone for further growth and innovation across multiple lines of business.”

In less than two years since the company’s historic banking transformation, Cornerstone has grown its assets by 25% while maintaining strong asset quality, doubled its funding sourced, and raised more than $1 billion in deposits. All the while, Cornerstone has maintained one of the nation’s highest FDIC insurance ratios and decreased its funding costs by more than 300 basis points since 2022.

“With the backing of our fortress-like capital position, we’ve successfully launched or grown an industry-leading in-house mortgage loan servicing platform, new mortgage partnerships and mortgage portfolio programs, consumer digital deposits, and commercial lending,” Almy said. “We’re excited to extend that growth into treasury sales and service later this year. We consider these achievements a great start toward realizing our unique opportunities and reaching our goal of serving more than one million families, businesses and institutions nationally.”

About Cornerstone Capital Bank

Based in Houston, Texas, Cornerstone Capital Bank is a premier national provider of mortgage finance and servicing solutions and banking services to businesses and consumers. The organization’s 1,500 team members across the country are guided by a core Mission, Vision, and Convictions statement. Cornerstone has served families and businesses in more than 600,000 mortgage financing, commercial financing and deposit account relationships. Cornerstone holds certified Fortune Great Place to Work® status, is recognized as “Top Workplace” in major markets, and has earned multiple Best Workplaces™ awards. Formed through the 2022 merger of Cornerstone Home Lending and The Roscoe State Bank, Cornerstone Capital Bank has a combined operating history dating back to 1906. Upon merger closing, Cornerstone was the highest capitalized new bank in Texas history. For more information, visit www.cornerstonecapital.com.