Brucer Witherell

Chief Executive Officer

David A. Essex

Chief Operating Officer

Ed Donohue

Chief Administrative Officer

Kenneth Flornes

Chief Development Officer

Dayna Castano

Chief Marketing Officer

Jesal Sangani

Chief Product Officer

Jordan Brown

Chairman Technology Advisory Board

Susan Tobin

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Bruce Witherell

Chief Executive Officer

Bruce has more than 35 years of finance and mortgage market experience across small and large companies. Through Primestone, he cultivates next-generation technology and skilled management to solve business challenges for financial services clients. Previously he was CEO of Promontory MortgagePath (PMP), a fintech provider and an outsourced loan processing and trading company. Earlier, he was the CEO of FirstKey Mortgage, a national lender and portfolio company of Cerberus Capital Management. Before joining FirstKey, Bruce was the Chief Operating Officer of Freddie Mac (post conservatorship) responsible for all operations and technology groups, and the Single-Family and Multi-Family business lines. Bruce has also held global and national executive leadership roles at both Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Bruce began his career at Credit Suisse First Boston and Household Finance.

David A. Essex

Chief Operating Officer

Dave has more than 30 years of finance and operations experience, ranging from fintech start-ups to global financial services organizations. He has built and run corporate, finance and risk functions for multiple organizations. As one of the founding partners of Primestone, he specializes in business assessment and advises on scalable growth, acquisition integration and financing strategies with a heavy focus in the financial services and mortgage-related fields. Previously, Dave was CAO/CFO at Promontory MortgagePath (PMP), a fintech provider and an outsourced loan processing and trading company. Prior to PMP, he held senior financial positions at FirstKey Holdings (a Cerberus portfolio company), Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers. Dave began his career at Ernst & Young.

Ed Donohue

Chief Administrative Officer

Ed oversees the company’s finance, operations, marketing and corporate functions. Prior to joining Primestone, he was Managing Director at Morgan Stanley for more than a decade, holding various senior positions including Chief Administrative Officer of Morgan Stanley Bank, N.A. and the Global Mortgage Lending business, and Chief Operating Officer of the Global Technology and Reengineering & Expense Management divisions. Earlier, he was a Managing Director at Lehman Brothers, where he served as Chief Audit Executive, Co-Chief Operating Officer of Aurora Loan Services, and Chief Administrative Officer of Global Technology & Operations. Mr. Donohue began his career as a CPA at Peat Marwick Mitchell (now KPMG).

Kenneth Flornes

Chief Development Officer

Kenneth has more than 20 years of senior-level experience in the real estate and hospitality space at firms such as Oakwood and Silverstein Properties. At Primestone, he is responsible for creating the customer experience that the firm delivers to corporate housing clients and their guests, and developer/owner relations for its furnished apartment business. Kenneth’s market knowledge and operational expertise have made him one of the most respected voices in the industry. His expertise spans corporate housing, travel, relocation and hospitality. He is involved in a number of local and international organizations, including ERC, CHPA, NJRC, and NYCORP. Kenneth stays close to his Norwegian heritage through his participation in the American-Scandinavian Foundation, Innovation Norway, and the Scandinavian Chamber of Commerce.

Dayna Castano

Chief Marketing Officer

Dayna has more than 15 years of executive leadership experience in the corporate real estate and hospitality industries with a focus on the marketing and sales side of the business. She has strategically built, launched, and spearheaded the growth, positioning, and identity of several notable and award-winning brands in the independent hotel, extended-stay and senior living space. Her strong business acumen has yielded exponential revenue growth, optimized market position, and created clear differentiators in highly competitive markets.

As Corporate Director of Marketing for Quadrum Global, she created international awareness and visibility for both Arlo Hotels and Amavida senior living facilities. Dayna’s broad scope and fund of knowledge encompasses digital marketing, public relations, programming, partnerships, social media, sustainability, and outreach strategies. Dayna ‘s extensive sales experience includes roles at Oakwood, HHM and Highgate, where she successfully launched and strategically positioned Row NYC, the management company’s largest asset and New York City's largest independent hotel.

 

Jesal Sangani

Chief Product Officer

Jesal has more than 30 years of leadership experience in the hospitality industry. A serial entrepreneur, Jesal has founded several successful hospitality and healthcare-focused technology companies throughout his career including Myne Health, a healthcare analytical platform, TellZen, an employee experience platform and Zenya, in 2014. Jesal grew Zenya from a start-up to the leading corporate rental technology platform it is today. Jesal began his career at an early-stage start-up where he built out a Boston-based hospital’s eCommerce site and disesase management system. Jesal holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bombay, a Master’s Degree in Operations and Information Technology from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute and an MBA from MIT.

Jordan Brown

Chairman Technology Advisory Board

Jordan has more than 20 years of experience in loan origination product design and development, as well as significant experience in capital markets, loan servicing analytics, process reviews and related due diligence. His career has focused on building, marketing and deploying technical solutions to solve operational management issues, including the development of loan pricing engines and loan origination, secondary marketing, and servicing Systems. At MarketWise, Brown has spearheaded financial firm technology transformations, implementations of artificial intelligence, system selections and IT reviews. He is an industry leader in streamlining operations and maintaining IT/cybersecurity best practices. Prior to starting MarketWise, he held senior management positions with GHR Systems/FIS, Tuttle Decision Systems and ALLTEL (currently Black Knight Financial). He regularly is a featured speaker at financial technology industry events and a frequent contributor to major industry publications.

Susan Tobin

Managing Director, Advisory Services

Susan has logged more than 35 years in the financial services sector managing small and large teams in start-ups and large organizations, and across numerous functional areas, including risk management, operations, compliance, and technology. Susan has a record of delivering solutions and solving large-scale challenges, and is recognized for building consensus, managing budgets, and resources, and implementing strategies with clear objectives, metrics, and flexibility. In her most recent role, she was Chief Business Architect for the mortgage technology start-up, PromonTech, a subsidiary of Promontory MortgagePath. Prior to that, she held Chief Risk Officer, Chief Information Officer, and operations roles with FirstKey Holdings, Redwood Trust, and Credit Suisse. Susan started her career in economic consulting before transitioning to the mortgage space with Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp.