#MBACREF23: MBA Honors CBRE Capital Markets, Genesis Bank as 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commercial/Multifamily Leadership Award Winners

(MBA Chairman Matt Rocco presents the MBA DEI Market & Community Outreach Strategies Award to Cindy Pulido of Genesis Bank, Newport Beach, Calif.)

SAN DIEGO–The Mortgage Bankers Association recognized CBRE Capital Markets Inc. and Genesis Bank as its 2023 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Commercial/Multifamily Leadership Award recipients.

The annual awards recognize MBA members for their leadership efforts in DEI in two award categories: organizational DEI and market & community outreach strategies. The presentations took place here at the MBA 2023 Commercial/Multifamily Finance Convention and Expo.

“This year’s DEI Leadership Award winners have gone to tremendous heights to create a more diverse and inclusive environment at their respective organizations and in the communities they serve. I am honored to present CBRE and Genesis Bank with this prestigious award,” said Matt Rocco, 2023 MBA Chairman and President of Colliers Mortgage.

Organizational DEI Award: CBRE Capital Markets, Inc,

The Organizational DEI Award celebrates company initiatives specifically developed and designed to increase DEI within the leadership and employee base of member companies, thereby leading to a mortgage banking industry that may better reflect and understand its customers.

CBRE Capital Markets Inc. is awarded for its approach to DEI – driving measurable progress and accelerating the pace of change for their people and clients with outcome-based metrics, training and resources, and accountability through reporting and performance. In addition, their internal workplace culture thrives through programs such as EMERGE, CBRE’s Employee Business Resource Groups in the Americas; Diversity Scholars, their diversity internship program; Advancing Women in Leadership; Strengthening Talent Engaging Producers program, which is part of CBRE’s Talent Accelerator Initiatives to recruit, develop, and mentor their internal talent.

CBRE is committed to cultivating diverse leadership. Forty percent of its Global Executive Committee, which reports directly to the CEO, is diverse; 70 percent of its board of directors is diverse; and 40 percent of its board of directors is specifically ethnically or racially diverse. Women make up 32.9% of its global management – which represents nearly a 20 percent increase over the past three years. Additionally, 25 percent of their U.S. employees are racially or ethnically diverse.

Furthermore, CBRE has a strong network of Minority or Women-Owned Business Enterprise suppliers for either client or CBRE needs. CBRE spent more than $2.4 billion on small businesses and MWBE suppliers on behalf of their clients. In addition, it purchased $50 million in goods and services from small businesses and MWBE suppliers for their corporate use.

For more information on CBRE’s DEI efforts, click here.

Market & Community Outreach Strategies Award: Genesis Bank

The Market & Community Outreach Strategies Award recognizes company initiatives specifically developed and designed to increase outreach, marketing and products to attract customers from the industry’s fastest-growing market segments.

Genesis Bank is recognized for its commitment to supporting lower-income, minority and rural communities. Fifty-seven percent of its Board of Directors, 42 percent of its management team and 54 percent of its workforce are racial minorities.

Its commitment is outlined in a public three-year DEI Strategic Plan. Multifamily loans constitute 80 percent of the Bank’s lending activity – of these loans, 85 percent are in majority-minority tracks, and 74 percent are in low-to-moderate income tracts. More than half of these multifamily loans help to create and preserve affordable housing units benefitting minority LMI communities in Southern California.

The bank also formed the Genesis Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, an internal division of the Bank, and the Genesis for Good Foundation, a 501(c)3 public charity. GBIE and the Genesis for Good Foundation enable the Bank to deliver on its minority depository institution and DEI commitment. Notably, the Foundation grants dollars to support community initiatives that increase access to capital for small minority-owned businesses, create jobs, preserve affordable housing and provide vital services benefiting LMI minority communities. Since its establishment, the Foundation has deployed $90,000 into the communities they serve.  

For more information on Genesis Bank’s DEI efforts, click here.

Now in its seventh year of recognizing member companies in commercial real estate finance, the MBA Commercial/Multifamily DEI Leadership Awards were developed to celebrate company initiatives specifically developed and designed to increase internal DEI within a company’s leadership and employee base, in addition to market and community outreach. These awards commend the hard work, dedication, and creativity in the creation of exemplary programs that focus on achieving organizational DEI and improving the communities they serve. 

This year’s submissions were reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of members of MBA’s DEI Advisory Committee and MBA staff. For each award category, the companies were scored by the quality of their overall submission, identification of a target audience and annual goals, demonstration of a tangible benefit to participants, and the overall enterprise, and the replicability of the program. Innovative program approaches and potential success in broadening the culture of the organization through the values of DEI were also considered.

For more information on MBA’s DEI efforts, click here.