MBA Home For All Pledge Partner: FHLBank San Francisco
(One in a series of profiles of MBA member companies that have signed the MBA Home For All Pledge, an initiative to promote inclusion in housing.)
FHLBank San Francisco is a member-driven cooperative helping local lenders in Arizona, California and Nevada build strong communities, create opportunity and change lives for the better. The tools and resources we provide to our member financial institutions–commercial banks, credit unions, industrial loan companies, savings institutions, insurance companies and community development financial institutions–foster homeownership, expand access to quality housing, seed or sustain small businesses and revitalize whole neighborhoods. Together with our members and other partners, we are making the communities we serve more vibrant, equitable and resilient. Learn more at www.fhlbsf.com.
MBA NEWSLINK: Why did FHLBank San Francisco sign the MBA Home for All Pledge?
TERESA BRYCE BAZEMORE, PRESIDENT: FHLBank San Francisco enthusiastically signed on to MBA’s Home for All Pledge because it strongly aligns with the Bank’s, and my personal, commitment to promoting sustainable homeownership and an affordable place to call home, for everyone.
Since the summer of 2020, the Bank has put a special emphasis on exploring what can be done to narrow the Black homeownership gap. Homeownership is one of the most valuable wealth building tools we have in American society, and it is past time that we work to dismantle structural barriers that have historically stood in the way of people of color taking that path to generational wealth.
I believe it’s clear that our industry urgently needs concrete solutions to ensuring racial equity and inclusion in housing. Industry leaders should stand at the forefront of this effort – not just supporting the idea of fundamental change, but actively and visibly driving toward tangible results. MBA’s Home for All Pledge is an opportunity to join together to increase access to homeownership and affordable rental housing opportunity, with market-based solutions and inclusive practices.
This pledge also challenges us to be champions of even greater Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in our industry, and within our own institutions: when we build and leverage a workforce that reflects the wonderful diversity of the customers and communities we serve, we are stronger organizations and better-performing businesses.
NEWSLINK: What is FHLBSF doing to implement key provisions of the Home for All Pledge?
BAZEMORE: In October 2021, FHLBank San Francisco launched, in partnership with the Urban Institute, a four-pronged Racial Equity Accelerator for Homeownership. This $1.5 million, 2-year collaboration is aimed at tackling some of the most persistent obstacles to closing the racial gaps in homeownership and wealth-building through research, development, and incubation of promising structural innovations for housing finance. This partnership will help create a blueprint for advancing equity and further the goals of the Home for All pledge by focusing on four priority areas that have historically disadvantaged people of color: underwriting standards, biases within automated tools, the burden of student loan debt and the lack of solutions to short-term payment issues.
In February of this year, we announced a $1 million Empowering Black Homeownership matching grant program that will provide new financial resources for HUD-approved Housing Counseling Agencies (HCAs) that do the critical work of educating aspiring and at-risk homeowners. These grants will flow through our member financial institutions to HCAs in targeted areas: Bank members can request dollar-for-dollar matching grants up to a total per-member matching amount of $125,000 to support pre- and post-purchase counseling in their communities. Knowledge is power, and we believe this funding can help ensure that Black homebuyers and homeowners have equal access to all the information they need to feel confident in their own ability to purchase a home or sustain homeownership. To date, three of our member financial institutions have requested matching grants for their $200,000 in donations to eight different HCAs in California.
FHLBank San Francisco is also a financial supporter of The Black Homeownership Collaborative and a member of its stakeholder working group. The Collaborative’s “30by30” initiative is a seven-point plan to create net 3 million new Black homeowners by 2030, bringing Black homeownership to a level never previously realized. From there, the Collaborative will focus on developing new strategies to help close the racial homeownership gap completely.
At FHLBank San Francisco, we believe that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion is both a business and societal imperative. Building on a decades-long investment in DE&I strategies, policies, and practices, the Bank’s entire leadership team are now Certified Diversity Professionals through Cornell University. Last year, our board of directors was one of three boards to win the NACD Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) Award. The National Association of Corporate Directors’ DE&I Awards™ highlight forward-thinking boards that leverage the power of DE&I to enhance their governance and create long-term value for their organizations and stakeholders. We continue to strengthen our internal DE&I programs, which broaden our collective perspectives and have a meaningful impact on how we engage with our workforce, our members, a diverse supplier network, and other business and community partners.
We are currently planning a symposium designed to examine the persistence of the racial homeownership gap and the explore the role that our member financial institutions play in narrowing the gap and reducing wealth inequities. The event will provide historical perspective on structural barriers that need to be broken down along with strategies and tactics for reaching out to diverse customers and building a diverse and inclusive workplace.
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About the MBA Home For All Pledge
MBA recognizes and values the opportunities for working together as an industry to promote inclusion in housing. We believe that these opportunities can, and need to be, significantly expanded.
The Home for All Pledge represents our industry’s long-term commitment on a sustained and holistic approach to address racial inequities in housing. By signing, you are agreeing to be a champion for change in addressing the barriers to sustainable housing for persons and communities of color.
Through advocacy, partnerships, and connections within the industry, you pledge to support MBA’s efforts to ensure fair, equitable and responsible lending and affordable rental housing for minorities.
Pillars of the pledge include:
–Promote and support public policies and industry practices that advance minority homeownership and affordable rental housing;
–Support market-based solutions through MBA’s place-based CONVERGENCE programs;
–Champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in our workplaces and our industry; and
–Support inclusion in single-family and/or multifamily housing with similar actions that are not listed under the above three commitments
For more information about the MBA Home For All Pledge, visit https://www.mba.org/who-we-are/the-home-for-all-pledge.
