Melissa Bernard has been recognized as one of the leading women in the US mortgage industry by being listed in the 2018 edition of Mortgage Professional America's Elite Women
Senior vice president, mortgage area manager
SunTrust Mortgage
Melissa Bernard began her mortgage career in 1981, working part-time for Alliance Mortgage Company. In 1986, she left Alliance to co-found BancMortgage Financial Corporation, which grew to more than $3 billion a year in sales and was ranked among the top 10 lenders in Atlanta for 10 consecutive years. Two years after SunTrust Bank acquired the company, Bernard was asked to develop the strategic alliance division for SunTrust Mortgage. In 2009, the division became the fastestgrowing entity within SunTrust Mortgage, achieving more than 100 successful partnerships and production in excess of $500 million a year.
Bernard was promoted to mortgage production manager for Atlanta in 2011 and developed a robust relocation program and produced approximately $350 million in relocation loans. In 2015, she became mortgage area manager for Georgia and is now responsible for overseeing production managers, business development and relocation expansion, in addition to recruiting, coaching, and onboarding new hires and organizing volunteer events.
Bernard is also a member of the Women’s Teammate Network and Professional Women in Building, and was guest speaker and expert panelist for Judge Penny Brown’s SisterTalk Women’s Empowerment Conference from 2014 to 2017. She was also recognized as one of the top 100 women in the mortgage industry in 2015 and 2016 by Professional Women’s Network Group and received Lender of the Year Award from Empire Board of Realtists in 2015 and from NAHREP in 2017.
