MBA Announces 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Residential Leadership Award Winners

(Left to right: 2024 MBA Chairman Mark Jones, Amanda Tucker, Chrissy Zottzmann Brown, CMB, AMP, CRU. Photo credit: Anneliese Mahoney)

PHILADELPHIA–The Mortgage Bankers Association announced at its 2023 Annual Convention & Expo that five companies have been recognized as 2023 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Residential Leadership Award recipients. The annual awards recognize MBA members for their leadership efforts in DEI in three award categories: organizational DEI, market outreach strategies and non-lender.

“Now in its eighth year, MBA’s Residential DEI Leadership Awards continue to showcase the best DEI programs in the real estate finance industry,” said Mark Jones, 2024 MBA Chairman and President of Union Home Mortgage. “This year’s DEI Leadership Award winners have demonstrated their commitment to creating a more diverse and inclusive environment at their respective organizations and in the communities they serve.”

This year’s submissions were reviewed by a panel of judges consisting of members of MBA’s DEI Advisory Committee, previous award winners, and MBA staff. The companies were divided into two groups, based on number of employees and company type, then 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.

The five 2023 DEI Residential Leadership Award winners are:

Organizational DEI Award: Fifth Third Bank

The Organizational DEI Award celebrates company initiatives that were 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.

Fifth Third Bank is being awarded for its dedication to advancing inclusion and diversity in the banking and financial services industry and in its communities. In 2019, Fifth Third Bank shared its Six Bold Goals to focus its efforts on inclusion and diversity. In May 2020, Fifth Third Bank extended its racial diversity efforts, and its Board approved an additional $2.8 billion commitment to further accelerate equity, equality, and inclusion for its workforce and suppliers by launching the AREEI (Accelerating Racial Equality, Equity, and Inclusion) Initiative, which focuses on expanding on inclusion efforts for employees, customers, and communities.

Market Outreach Strategies Award: U.S. Bank Home Mortgage and Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group

The Market 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.

For companies with more than 1,000 employees, U.S. Bank Home Mortgage is being awarded for its dedication to closing the racial homeownership gap. One of their premier initiatives is Access Home, a program aimed at advancing Black homeownership.

A component of U.S. Bank Access Commitment TM, – the company’s long-term approach to building wealth in diverse communities by supporting communities, families, small businesses, and employees – Access Home is a carefully planned, long-term program with a sweeping initiative focusing on four key pillars to address the financial challenges and goals of individuals and families: Enhanced adult financial information, youth outreach, strategic community outreach, and a Mortgage Loan Originator (MLO) Development Program. Additionally, it has committed over $1.5 million to 18 community partners in these markets to support their efforts to expand Black homeownership.

For companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group is being awarded for its development of the innovative program SmartPath™ to Homeownership. SmartPath™ focuses on creating awareness for affordable housing opportunities for low-to-moderate (LMI) borrowers and first-time homebuyers. Within SmartPath™, Atlantic Bay offers La Bahia – a Limited English Proficient (LEP) Program. Its geographic footprint encompasses diverse consumer bases, and to better meet the needs of consumers whose first language is Spanish, it created the La Bahia program to offer education and access regarding homeownership. The Program encompasses (1) consumer outreach, (2) marketing materials, (3) URLA, (4) initial disclosures, and (5) ongoing support from a bi-lingual operational compliance team member. Furthermore, in 2022, 48 percent of loan applications were first-time homebuyers, accounting for $2.01 billion in new home loans.

Non-Lender Award: Radian Guaranty and iEmergent

For the Organizational DEI non-lender category, Radian Guaranty is being recognized for its expansion of internal DEI initiatives. One of the initiatives included Allyship Academy, which allows Radian to feature an assortment of DEI learnings for employees into a cohesive program and lets them build upon their learnings by taking different DEI courses, allowing them to move to the next level of allyship and advocacy. Additionally, in 2022, Radian Guaranty launched its revised internal DEI strategy – DEI Ambition, focusing on three pillars: Amplify Voices, Advocate for Access, and Practice Inclusion. Based on multiple focus groups and co-created with their employees, Ambition allowed them to expand and rethink how their teams approach DEI.

For the Market Outreach Strategies non-lender category, iEmergent is being honored for its technology platform and strategic approach to help lenders locate, understand, and meet the needs of racially and ethnically diverse markets. As a data-based organization, iEmergent prides itself on developing solutions that will tackle housing inequities. So far, iEmergent has developed:

-Mortgage MarketSmart 360: the industry’s only market intelligence and forecasting platform that helps lenders and other housing practitioners locate and engage home-ready, underserved markets;
-DIVERSIFi: a diverse-lending solution built on the Mortgage MarketSmart framework that will help loan originators and mortgage brokers grow their minority lending business; and
-SPCP 360: the industry’s first comprehensive analytics and advisory solution that assists lenders in the creation, execution, and evaluation of Special Purpose Credit Programs (SPCPs).

MBA’s Commercial and Multifamily DEI Leadership Award will be announced in February 2024 at the 2024 CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo. Please visit this website for updates.