Vetted VA, a professional credentialing and education organization focused on VA lending, has formed its first board of advisors, it announced Monday morning.
The board includes three Vetted VA professionals and two executives from the wholesale mortgage industry: Gay Veale, VVA7 Vetted VA Professional at Guidon Mortgage Group LLC; Jason Sharon, VVA7 Vetted VA Professional at Home Loans Inc.; Mike Alberico, VVA7 Vetted VA Professional at Carolina Mortgage Advisors LLC; Mike Kortas, founder and CEO of NEXA Lending and Tom Ahles, chief growth officer of Edge Home Finance.
According to Vetted VA, the board will provide guidance on expanding its educational offerings, professional standards and industry partnerships as the organization grows.
“We have always asked for advice. We have simply never fully formalized the process,” Christopher Griffith, Vetted VA’s founder and CEO, said in a statement. “Now, we are building the leadership structure that will allow us to educate more professionals, reach more veterans and create an impact they can actually feel when using their VA home loan benefit.”
Founded in 2019, Vetted VA uses a ranking system from VVA1 through VVA7. Professionals earn their rankings by completing more than 38 hours of coursework, meeting service standards and maintaining an ongoing commitment to education and teaching, according to the organization.
Production volume is not used to determine a professional’s standing, Vetted VA said.
The organization said the addition of Kortas and Ahles brings leaders from two large wholesale mortgage broker organizations onto the board. “Scale means nothing without standards,” Kortas said in a statement. “Vetted VA has built something rare: a community that holds professionals accountable to the people they serve.”
Vetted VA said it will remain independent and open to mortgage and real estate professionals across the industry. Recruiting and solicitation are prohibited within its communities, according to the organization.
Since its founding, Vetted VA has tracked more than 5,190 VA loans representing approximately $2.3 billion in origination volume. Of those loans, 2,042, or about 39.5%, were sourced directly through the Vetted VA network, the organization said.
Vetted VA said its digital communities now reach nearly 100,000 people. The organization has also developed nearly 40 hours of educational content and published research including its 2026 VA Loan White Paper and a November 2025 report, “Rising Diversity in VA Homebuying,” produced using data analytics from Polygon Research.
The report found a 75% homeownership rate among younger veterans, compared with 56.6% among nonveteran peers, according to Vetted VA.
Vetted VA said it plans to expand its educational offerings, with a goal of holding one live class each day in 2027. The organization also plans to host an upcoming VA Summit at AIME Fuse in partnership with the Association of Independent Mortgage Experts.
The board’s formation is intended to provide additional structure as Vetted VA expands its educational and professional standards efforts, the organization said.
This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication.