Christopher M. Naghibi serves as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer of First Foundation Bank (NYSE: FFWM) where he has executive oversight of the Bank’s credit organization, loan servicing, 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 and is a licensed attorney, real estate broker and general building contractor (Class B).Prior to First Foundation Bank, Mr. Naghibi garnered an extensive background 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 is also Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Black Crown Inc. and Black Crown Law APC, a disruptive collective of attorneys, property managers, real estate agents and contractors who handle home sales and purchases, commercial and multifamily real estate brokerage, primarily for high net-worth and celebrity clients. The team has over 20 years of experience, 1000+ satisfied clients, $10 million in recovered costs for clients and in excess of $20 billion dollars in closed transactions. 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 is a published author and highly sought-after speaker, as long as the engagement doesn’t conflict with his son’s birthday. He is also the host of The Higher Standard Podcast which aims to provide free financial literacy, advice on entrepreneurship and be a resource for motivation to combat an increasingly toxic social media influenced world. He enjoys providing 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. As a former founding board member for She Built This City, he has helped empower women of all ages in sparking interest in the construction and manufacturing trades.