AVANA CUSO Appoints New Leadership for Optimal Growth

Sanat Patel – Chief Lending Officer
A veteran of the commercial banking industry with over 25 years of experience, Sanat Patel is the Chief Lending Officer, as well as a Co-founder of the legacy company, AVANA Capital. In his position as Chief Lending Officer, Sanat oversees credit and risk administration, as well as the origination and syndication of commercial debt. Sanat excels at navigating the complexities of commercial debt management, as well as creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to realize their dreams and create wealth for their businesses to thrive. He has been instrumental in creating niche-lending programs across the United States for small business owners and developing “social underwriting” to help serve ethnic community customers. Prior to AVANA, Sanat served in various functions of commercial banking, supporting clients across segments of corporate banking within Wells Fargo Bank, Citibank, and JP Morgan. His competitive drive resulted in him being ranked in the top 10% of bankers nationwide within these institutions.

Matt Hunt – Chief Credit Officer
Matt Hunt has over 20 years of commercial lending experience with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. His extensive background includes managing all aspects of credit risk for AVANA CUSO, including establishing and enforcing robust credit policies, procedures, and culture, as well as overseeing credit, collateral analysis, portfolio management, on-going risk monitoring, loan documentation and construction loan disbursements. Prior to joining AVANA Companies, Matt was Senior VP and Director of National Real Estate Lending for Zions Bank, where he oversaw the bank’s nationwide commercial real estate lending platform with a primary focus in term and construction commercial real estate loans for both owner-occupied and investment properties. He brings deep experience in managing over $5.2 billion in commercial real estate loans for Zions Bank.

Brianna Vaughan – Executive Vice President, Operations
Brianna Vaughan has 20 years of experience working for credit unions and has been associated with AVANA CUSO/CUSO during much of that time. She initially joined AVANA CUSO in 2012 as the Human Resources Manager utilizing her HR degree. Over the span of her time with AVANA CUSO she has worked in every department in CUSO inclusive of Human Resources, Information Technology, Facilities, Servicing, Finance, Credit, Originations and Loss Mitigation. Her experience and knowledge in credit union practices and philosophy has made her a highly effective part of the leadership team. She has strong understanding of their systems and procedures in IT and tech support. A passionate advocate for the credit union movement, she recently received her CUDE designation specific to credit union relationships. Currently, Brianna is responsible for Information Technology and Systems, Human Resources and Facilities.

Steven Ellsworth – Vice President, Asset Management
Steven Ellsworth’s more than 25 years of experience in the credit union and banking industries includes strong financial and credit analysis, loan workouts, and asset resolution experience in commercial real estate and excellent negotiation skills with third party entities. Steven’s reputation for delivering servicing excellence brings a renewed customer focus to the organization. Steven has also managed both agricultural and commercial loan relationships on a national basis. His combined knowledge in asset analysis and risk management will undoubtedly introduce a great resource and advocate for AVANA CUSO’s lending affiliates.

Kyung Kim – Executive Vice President, Strategic Markets

Kyung Kim is a strategically focused and collaborative executive with 15 years of experience in the financial services industry. At AVANA CUSO, he leads the company’s origination efforts to drive new loan volume in new and existing markets for Credit Union partners. His areas of focus include business development efforts for construction, bridge, and permanent loans through AVANA Capital and the AVANA CUSO network of credit unions. Prior to joining AVANA CUSO, Kyung worked at GE Capital in various roles including M&A business development and strategic planning.

Shivan Perera – Senior Vice President, Participations
Shivan joined AVANA Capital as a Business Development Officer in 2016 after obtaining his MBA in Global Management from the Thunderbird School of Global Management at ASU. At AVANA CUSO, he maintains extensive network of Credit Unions, Banks, and Private Lenders with proven ability to lead origination, sale, and participation of loans. He is a Commercial Real Estate Specialist focused on creating customized end to end lending solutions with experience in credit analysis and risk management, and he is highly knowledgeable of government guaranteed and conduit debt products. Previous and current roles include experience in portfolio management and capital markets.