Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano Installed As NAHREP Chair, Diaz Appointed Vice Chair

Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano, a Bay Area broker and long-time community activist, was installed last week as the new chair of NAHREP at the 2008 Legislative Conference in Washington DC. Tino Diaz, president of the Miami-based VERTEX Mortgage Bankers and chair of NAHREP’s Ethics Committee, succeeds her as vice chair.

“Rebecca Gallardo-Serrano’s record of community volunteerism and her interest in advancing issues on behalf of the Hispanic community will be a huge asset in her leadership role at NAHREP,” said outgoing Chair Felix DeHerrera. “Her own experience on the frontlines as a practitioner will help keep NAHREP focused on the issues that matter most to homeowners, buyers and real estate professionals in this challenging market.”

Gallardo-Serrano has been active in community affairs and served a four-year term as Planning Commissioner for Santa Clara County (Northern California) and president of the Hispanic Association of Real Estate Professionals. She is co-founder of the Latina Coalition, promoting Latina civic management and previously served as a California Association of Realtor's Director in 2002-2003. Her volunteerism also includes work with the Bay Area Lupus Foundation and the City of San Jose Human Rights Commission.

She has had an influential role in the leadership at NAHREP as a member of its executive committee and on the national board. She has served as education chair for one of the trade group’s most successful conventions (2006) and has also been a key figure in the training and development of the association’s chapter leaders. At the local level, she is founder and one-time president of the NAHREP Santa Clara County Chapter.

Tino Diaz, managing director and CEO of VERTEX Mortgage Bankers, a wholesale mortgaging firm that specializes in the Hispanic market, joins Gallardo-Serrano at the helm as vice chair. Diaz is one of the principle architects of NAHREP’s Code of Trust, a program that promotes ethics standards to member, and recently served on the group’s national board. He is recognized for his practical and hands-on approach in developing business ventures and in adapting competitive strategies in financial services and regularly speaks on issues relating to the financial services industry.

He frequently serves in an advisory capacity to senior management and/or boards of directors for banking institutions, insurance companies and trade associations.