Leadership

Senior Vice President of Mortgage Lending 

Jeff Newbury’s career in the mortgage industry spans over 20 years and encompasses nearly every aspect of mortgage loan production. He kickstarted his career by learning the basics of mortgages as a mortgage trainee and enhanced his skill set in various loan production roles before moving into his first management position supervising frontline loan coordinators. Since then, he’s advanced to executive leadership roles at Primary Capital Mortgage, Stearns Lending, AmWest Funding Corp., MAXEX, and Rushmore Correspondent Loan Services. Throughout his journey, he has purposefully sought out new opportunities and different challenges to expand his knowledge of the vast lending landscape. Impressively, Jeff has participated in the execution of more than $60 billion in mortgage loans. 

As Senior Vice President for Greater Nevada Mortgage, Jeff plans, organizes, directs, and evaluates initiatives and performance to enhance the GNM experience for both borrowers and staff. Jeff is passionate about the employee experience and truly believes in the amazing abilities and outcomes of a dedicated and well-trained team. Therefore, he strives to make the day-to-day work experience positive and enjoyable so that team members can provide the very best service to clients, partners, and one another. 

On top of his career in home lending, Jeff feels privileged to have participated in several working groups as a beta tester reviewing emerging processes and technologies in various industries, including business analytics, machine intelligence, and optical character recognition (OCR). He is also proud of his 25-year stint coaching competitive youth soccer in his home state of Georgia. In his spare time, Jeff enjoys hiking, mountain biking, running, and finding ways to make his wife laugh. Since relocating to Reno, he’s been actively exploring new activities and passions in northern Nevada. 

Vice President of Mortgage Operations

Roberta Benke has worked in the mortgage industry for nearly 30 years, with roles spanning from underwriter to loan officer and several management positions. This extensive experience has allowed her to develop an impressively well-rounded acumen in the home lending space. Over the past two decades, she has led teams for regional financial institutions, which she has found especially fulfilling, as she enjoys helping her teams thrive while assisting borrowers in achieving their homeownership dreams.

Roberta joined GNM as the Mortgage Operations Manager in the spring of 2022 and was promoted to Vice President of Mortgage Operations in early 2025.

As the Vice President of Mortgage Operations, Roberta is primarily responsible for overseeing the leadership of mortgage operations and processing. She supports the delivery of strategic objectives related to mortgage loan operations—including processing, underwriting, opening, closing, and shipping—to ensure an exceptional mortgage operations experience for both borrowers and staff.

In her personal time, Roberta enjoys supporting those in need with care and compassion through The Hope Center in central Texas, where she currently resides. She also loves to travel and looks forward to visiting Croatia in 2025.