ABOUT Gellert Dornay

The son of a Hungarian immigrant father and a native Seattleite mother, Gellert Dornay was born fourth in a family of nine siblings. He grew up attending a Montessori school founded by his parents. Eager to experience life, Dornay sampled four institutions of higher education, married his high school sweetheart, launched a coffee roasting business, and welcomed his first child—all before hitting the legal drinking age. He then helped Java Trading Co. bring specialty coffee to the masses on three continents over his 15 years with the company.

In response to a growing desire to promote human dignity through business, Dornay subsequently struck out in a different direction by co-founding Axia Home Loans in 2007. Families that own their homes stay together longer, are better off financially, and produce a higher percentage of college graduates. Dornay is the only newcomer to successfully build a national mortgage bank during the Great Recession. Under his leadership as CEO, Axia grew to fund over $1 billion annually, helping thousands of families become home owners. And in 2016, Axia became the first 100% employee-owned mortgage bank. Just as home-owners willingly invest in their dwellings and communities, employee-owners tend to willingly invest in the companies they work for and in their companies’ culture.

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