Since 2012, Jason Accola, a senior mortgage consultant with Wintrust Mortgage, has been recognized every year by the Illinois Housing Development Authority with the Governor’s Award for the No. 1 mortgage originator in the state for first-time and repeat buyer down payment and closing costs assistance programs. He has connected over 600 Illinois families with more than $90 million in homebuyer assistance funds.

Accola’s other achievements include being recognized in Wintrust Mortgage’s President’s Circle and President’s Award programs, being named one of MoneyTips’ Top 50 Most Influential Mortgage Experts in America and being ranked among the top 1 percent of mortgage originators in the country by Mortgage Executive Magazine.

A strong proponent of veterans’ programs and initiatives, Accola was awarded Best Veterans’ Advocate Loan Officer in Illinois by the Illinois Mortgage Bankers Association in 2015. On behalf of Wintrust Mortgage, he assisted in the creation of a corporatewide program called Armed Services Knowledge, which garnered national attention and was inducted into the inaugural Hall of Honor by the national Mortgage Bankers Association. In addition, Accola has participated in press conferences with the governor of Illinois to promote loan programs available to Illinois veterans.

Accola is an Eagle Scout, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a recipient of the Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholarship to the University of Oxford in England.