First Foundation, a financial institution since 1990, provides integrated investment management, wealth planning, consulting, trust, banking, and insurance services. The company is headquartered in Orange County, California with offices in California, Nevada, and Hawaii.

Finance

First Foundation

Amy Djou, who has served as Chief Accounting Officer of the Bank since March 2021, serves as Interim Chief Financial Officer of First Foundation Bank. Ms. Djou joined First Foundation Bank in May 2016. She served as Senior Vice President, Controller of the Bank between January 2018 and March 2021 and as Vice President, Controller of the Bank between May 2016 and January 2018. Ms. Djou is a Certified Public Accountant, licensed in the State of California since 2002.

Amy Djou

David Lake

Diane M. Rubin

Elizabeth A. Pagliarini

Max Briggs

Mitchell M. Rosenberg

Jacob Sonenshine

Michael Berry

Adrian S. Darmawan

Christopher M. Naghibi serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of First Foundation Bank (NASDAQ: FFWM) where he has executive oversight of the Bank’s credit organization, loan servicing, C&I lending. In addition, he has responsibility for product and online banking operations; depository, specialty, treasury and commercial client service sales; and retail banking. He brings to the role a deep expertise in large volume institutional operations.

Mr. Naghibi joined First Foundation Bank in September 2007. He previously served as an underwriter between September 2007 and September 2008; as Vice President, Credit Underwriting Manager of the Bank between September 2008 and January 2010; and as Senior Vice President, Credit Underwriting Manager of the Bank between January 2010 and October 2014. Mr. Naghibi is an attorney, licensed in the State of California since 2018 and in the State of Washington since 2021. He is a real estate broker, licensed in the State of California since 2007. He is also a general building contractor (Class B), licensed in the State of California since 2019.

Prior to First Foundation Bank, Mr. Naghibi gained experience in a myriad of unique lending platforms. His time with Impac Commercial Capital Corporation, U.S. Financial Services & Residential Realty, and First Fidelity Funding equipped Mr. Naghibi with strong credit skills and broad experience in multifamily, commercial and single-family residence real estate lending, private banking, consumer lending, and both small business and middle market lending.

Mr. Naghibi graduated with a Juris Doctorate from Trinity Law School and received a Master of Business Administration from American Heritage University alongside two bachelor degrees. Mr. Naghibi is also a graduate of the Yale School of Management Global Executive Leadership Program.

He has been a speaker at leading industry events and contributes to the media on topics related to lending, financial technology, and real estate. He provides pro bono legal work for families in need and has worked with Habitat for Humanity to create unique loan programs helping to get deserving families into the home of their dreams in Hawaii, Las Vegas, and California. He has been instrumental as a founding board member of several non-profits including She Built This City, which is aimed at helping empower women of all ages in sparking interest in the construction and manufacturing trades.

Christopher Naghibi

Mr. Nuño serves as  Chief Banking Officer for First Foundation Inc. 

Mr. Nuño has over 41 years of banking experience. Prior to joining First Foundation in 2009, he served as Executive Operating Officer at a Sunwest Bank. Past positions also include National Compliance Manager for Banco Popular North America, Director of Operations, Branch Administrator and Human Resources Director for Universal Bank, Chief Compliance Officer for East West Bank and Director of Training at East West Bank.  

Mr. Nuño serves on the Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. As an ambassador for affordable housing, he has also provided guidance in the areas of anti-money laundering and consumer compliance to several other Habitat for Humanity affiliates including Coachella Valley, Honolulu, and Las Vegas. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Villa Esperanza Services which provides a wide variety of programs and services for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities.   

Mr. Nuño earned a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership at Azusa Pacific University.  

 

Hugo Nuno

Shelly O’Byrne is the Director of Trust Services for First Foundation Bank. In this role she is responsible for growing the trust business, managing the team of trust officers and administrators, ensuring that trust clients are provided with exceptional customer service, and effectively managing risk within the trust function of the bank.

Ms. O'Byrne has 20 years of experience in trust, estate and charitable trust management, working with affluent clients and their advisors. Prior to joining the firm, she worked at Bank of the West as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Specialist managing their Newport Beach Trust office. She was the initial trust officer to join Family Wealth Advisors, their ultra-high net worth offering, and helped to build out the platform and offering, initially developing the client experience guidelines for the team. She also previously worked at Wells Fargo in trust administration and management.

She currently serves as a member of the Orange County Estate Planning Council, North County Estate Planning Council and the Orange County Planned Giving Roundtable, where she is also a past board member. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the University of California Riverside and a Masters of Business Administration with an emphasis in Finance from California State University at Fullerton. She is a Certified Financial Planner, CFP, and a Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, CTFA. 

Shelly O'Byrne

Lisa Carlson

Rick Keller is the current Chairman at [First Foundation](/org/first-foundation). Rick was previously with [First Foundation](/org/first-foundation), Inc.

Rick Keller earned their BS in Finance from San Diego State University-California State University. Rick is certified by the CFP.

Rick Keller

Kelly Rentzel is currently the Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at [First Foundation](/org/first-foundation). Prior to their current role, they worked at [Texas Capital Bank](/org/texas-capital-bank) from October 2012 to June 2021, where they served as EVP/General Counsel/Corporate Secretary. Before that, they were a Staff Attorney/Law Clerk at the U.S. District Courts from May 2006 to October 2012, and an Associate Attorney at Sayles | Werbner, PC from January 2005 to May 2006. Kelly began their career as an Associate Attorney at [Baker Botts](/org/baker-botts-l-l-p) in September 2002.

Kelly Rentzel has a J.D. from SMU Dedman School of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in English/Managerial Studies from [Rice University](/org/rice-university).

Kelly Rentzel reports to Scott F. Kavanaugh, CEO. They are on a team with Kevin Thompson - Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, John Hakopian - President, [First Foundation](/org/first-foundation) Advisors, and Hugo Nuno - Executive Vice President, Chief Risk Officer.

Kelly Rentzel

Elle  Luce

Scott F. Kavanaugh

John Hakopian

The executive team at First Foundation has a history of working in the banking and legal industries. They have experience working as staff attorneys and clerks at U.S. District Courts, and as associate attorneys at Sayles | Werbner, PC and Baker Botts. They also have a background in managerial studies from Rice University.

CEO and Executive Team

About

Team members

Other teams at First Foundation

Leadership Team

Board of Directors

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