MBA Selects Philadelphia as its Third CONVERGENCE City
(Philadelphia skyline courtesy VisitPhiladelphia.)
Partners with Finance of America, Radian and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage to Close Racial Homeownership Gap
The Mortgage Bankers Association selected Philadelphia as the site for its next CONVERGENCE initiative, a place-based partnership focused on narrowing the racial homeownership gap. CONVERGENCE Philadelphia will launch in early 2023, joining CONVERGENCE initiatives in Memphis, Tenn., and Columbus, Ohio.
CONVERGENCE Philadelphia will be led by MBA and three cornerstone partners: Finance of America, Radian and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. The multiyear commitment will involve key community and industry stakeholders working together to identify and address homeownership barriers for people and communities of color.
“CONVERGENCE Philadelphia will bring together a local network of housing leaders, non-profits, and other stakeholders to collaborate on sustainable housing opportunities for underserved people and communities,” said MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB. “We are grateful for the strong support from Finance of America, Radian and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage as we develop strong affordable housing partnerships to increase homeownership opportunities in Philadelphia.”
Launched by MBA and the Tennessee Housing Development Agency in March 2020, CONVERGENCE Memphis is working to increase Black homeownership in Memphis. CONVERGENCE Memphis has made significant strides in amplifying existing local resources, deploying additional national and state resources, and engaging in a broad array of community engagement activities. In late 2021, CONVERGENCE Memphis formed a new 501(c)(3) organization called CONVERGENCE Memphis Inc., to strengthen ties with the local Memphis community and advance its mission of increasing Black homeownership.
CONVERGENCE Columbus, led by MBA, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency and The John Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University was launched in July 2021. It is also a cross-sector partnership and multi-year initiative focused on increasing minority homeownership in Columbus, Ohio.
MBA continues to be an industry leader in establishing a strong affordable housing and minority homeownership platform. In 2021, Kristy Fercho, 2022 MBA Chair, and Executive Vice President and Head of Home Lending at Wells Fargo announced the Home for All Pledge, an MBA member company action pledge to promote minority homeownership; affordable rental housing; and company diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Furthermore, MBA recently established its Minority Homeownership Joint Task Force to provide industry leadership and direction for reducing the racial homeownership gap and promoting sustainable homeownership policies for communities of color. Along with creating the task force, MBA has created two advisory councils on affordable homeownership and affordable rental housing. Both councils unite voices from across the industry to foster progress on housing affordability.
For more information on CONVERGENCE, click here.
