The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) named Alden Knowlton as associate vice president of legislative affairs and Rachel Kelley as associate vice president of political affairs. Kelley will be replacing Knowlton as she moves into her new role.
“Alden has done a terrific job taking MBA’s grassroots lobbying network and fundraising activities to record levels,” Robert Broeksmit, MBA president and CEO, said in a release. “She is passionate about the political process and the engagement of our members to ensure our industry’s priorities are effectively communicated to key policymakers. Utilizing her established relationships on Capitol Hill, I am confident that Alden will continue to advocate successfully on behalf of our industry.”
As associate vice president of political affairs, Knowlton managed and implemented initiatives and strategic goals for MBA’s political advocacy initiatives. She oversaw MBA’s political action committee, MORPAC, and the Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA), MBA’s grassroots network. While in serving in this role, MORPAC set single-cycle and single-year program fundraising records, MAA had a marked increase in effectiveness and a 350 percent jump in membership from January 2020 to present, and communications to Congress from industry members increase more than tenfold over the last two years.
“Since joining MBA in 2016, Alden has taken colossal strides to help improve MBA’s political advocacy initiatives,” Bill Killmer, MBA chief lobbyist and senior vice president of legislative and political affairs, said. “Her leadership has been directly responsible for the significant increase in MAA and MORPAC participation in recent years, as well as the planning and execution of MBA’s annual National Advocacy Conference. I am confident that Alden will thrive in her new role.”
Kelley will be stepping into Knowlton’s former role, where she will be leading and managing the association’s political advocacy efforts through MAA, MORPAC, and MBA’s National Advocacy Conference. Prior to joining the MBA, she has held several different positions, including finance director for the Republican National Convention Host Committee, western regional finance and PAC director for the Republican National Committee; PAC director for the National Republican Senatorial Committee; and political manager and fundraising manager with the International Council of Shopping Centers and the National Association of Home Builders, respectively. Kelley also founded Tuesday Solutions, Inc. and served as its principal owner. The firm provided fundraising and political consulting services.
“Having known Rachel for many years, I am confident she is the right person to step into this key role at a critical time for our industry,” Killmer said. “We look forward to the fresh perspective she will bring to our advocacy programs at MBA – and her thoughts regarding ways we can build and improve upon those efforts going forward.”