While the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women celebrated its Golden Anniversary, The APMW Foundation, an independently chartered 501 (c)(3) corporation, has served not only the members of NAPMW, but also non-members from the mortgage finance field for more than 20 years.
We began with The Institute of Mortgage Lending
First there were three long year years of work by a group of dedicated women, who richly deserve to be acknowledged. With a budget that allowed for minimal face-to-face meetings and an era when fax machines were at the height of telecommunications, Creta Bloxom of Alaska, Judy Everett of California, Pat Gamble in Washington, Stella Martinez in Utah, Lisa Schuldt in Wisconsin and Arlene Spinks in Louisiana worked with Maureen McKovich in Florida. This project culminated in granting our first Graduate of Mortgage Lending (GML) designations at the 1991 Convention in Dallas. In 23 years, the Institute has granted hundreds of designations to professionals who work in all phases of mortgage lending.
Realizing the goal of affordable education
Many education programs had long been available to management and executive personnel. Establishing The Institute moved us toward the goal of creating a well-educated workforce at all levels of our industry. However, the Institute of Mortgage Lending (IML) program also required a financial commitment that was prohibitive for professionals at many levels in the industry.
Bob Dart, then president of VMP Mortgage Forms, had provided material support for the IML project and he encouraged the idea of creating a new entity to provide scholarships for mortgage finance students, including the IML students. VMP provided a $5,000 grant, and in March of 1992, the APMW Foundation was officially recognized as a tax-exempt corporation.
The goals of The APMW Foundation have remained clear. And to fulfill these goals, the Foundation provides financial aid for education programs in all facets of mortgage finance.
Since its inception, The APMW Foundation has granted more than 80 scholarships totaling more than $75,000. The Foundation is a corporation, with its principal office in the state of Washington. The Foundation is not a part of NAPMW, and it is important to point out that donations to the APMW Foundation reach far beyond the borders of NAPMW. We also fund non-members who pursue programs offered by industry-related organizations, as well as those who attend traditional colleges and universities. One of our earliest grants funded a then innovative computerized dictation program for a young non-member, a quadriplegic studying to become a property appraiser.
Donations to the APMW Foundation are tax deductible and we rely upon your support to continue our mission. We appreciate the generous donations local NAPMW associations have provided from the beginning, as well as donations from individual members and non-members who share our mission.
Through the Web site, www.APMWFoundation.org, donors are invited to donate via PayPal or to support the Foundation’s work through their partnership with Amazon.com. The Amazon program provides a donation for each book sold from the APMW Foundation Web site.
The APMW Foundation has proudly supported the goals of NAPMW, and continue its support of the association’s Golden Anniversary Educational Conference as Sapphire Sponsors.
Katherine L. Venters, GML is director of The APMW Foundation. She may be reached by phone at (713) 899-9989 or e-mail
[email protected]
This article originally appeared in the June 2014 issue of National Mortgage Professional Magazine.
