Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation
Madison, Wisconsin
Company CEO/ President: Steve Jacobson
fairwayindependentmc.com
What contributions is this company making to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion within the mortgage community?
Through community engagement: “Fairway is committed to engaging with our local communities. We support a variety of community organizations that promote diversity and inclusion. Fairway is a national member of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) and has several loan officers who have been recognized as the top 50 Latino mortgage originators. Under our Multicultural ERG, we are promoting teammates to join these DEI associations on a local level,” said Steve Jacobsen, CEO and founder of Fairway Independent Mortgage Co.
D&I Program Giving: “Fairway makes various charitable contributions to numerous organizations. Our employee resource groups and employees have donated to various non-profits. For example, our Women’s Empowerment ERG features a non-profit of the month and we’ve contributed over $4,000 in the past year to non-profit organizations that supported women-related causes. Our FairwayPride group highlights a non-profit every Pride Month in June to donate funds to. In addition, we highlight non-profits related to special heritage months for teammates to help promote and contribute,” said Julie Fry, Fairway’s chief people and engagement officer.
Fair Lending: Our Fair Lending Department provides our sales and operations (“The Street”) teammates in identifying community opportunities to expand Fairway’s business among underserved borrowers. The pillars include:
- CREATE awareness of Fairway’s commitment to fair lending through partnerships, communication, outreach, and education.
- CULTIVATE relationships with national, regional, state, and local organizations focused on homeownership for the underserved.
- CONNECT “The Street” with HUD-approved nonprofits and fair lending advocates to increase community engagement.
Can you give an example of what makes this company a leader in diversity?
All employees are required to take our Anti-Harassment Training. Fairway also offers six recommended D&I Training Certificates to all employees.
Our commitment has been instilled in our culture and acknowledged through various awards we have earned recently:
- 2023 Top Workplaces Culture of Excellence National Awards in 5 categories:
- 1. DE&I Practices
- 2. Employee Appreciation
- 3. Employee Well-Being
- 4. Professional Development
- 5. Women-Led Organizations
- 2023 Inclusive Workplace by Best Companies Group
- 2023 PRISM Award by National Mortgage Professional Magazine
- 2023 Diversity Leaders Award by National Mortgage Professional Magazine
- 2022 Top Employers for Women by Mortgage Women Magazine
- 2022 Diversity in Leadership Award by Colorado Mortgage Lenders Association (CMLA)
Daily #KeepPlaying Messages from employees: Every morning, our entire company receives a daily written #KeepPlaying inspirational story from an employee. We invite all employees to participate in this daily ritual we have instilled as part of our culture. One of our executive team members responds to each #KeepPlaying with their own thoughts of inspiration and encouragement, including our CEO. This promotes the value of our employee’s voice and helps inspire others with perspective in overcoming adversities.
Watch it on The Interest: Honoring Diversity Leaders
loanDepot Inc.
Irvine, California
Company CEO/ President: Frank Martell
loandepot.com
What does this company do to promote diversity within your workplace?
In July of 2022, loanDepot President and CEO Frank Martell introduced Vision 2025, a strategic program developed to address both the near-term changes in the market and our longer-term vision to be a purpose-driven lender.
Understanding the importance of the “tone at the top,” Frank has consistently and publicly made our commitment to inclusive lending a core part of his message to all stakeholders.
Aligned with that broader mission of creating a more inclusive path to homeownership is promoting diversity within our organization.
We recognize the importance of having a team that reflects the increasingly diverse communities we serve, and we spend considerable time and energy recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce. We’re proud that our team of mortgage professionals is made up of 42% minorities, which plays a crucial role in supporting the needs of minority and other traditionally underserved homebuyers.
“In the office,” we celebrate our rich diversity with educational content, employee profiles and special cultural celebrations in conjunction with months such as Black History Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, and Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month.
What contributions is this company making to promote diversity, equality, and inclusion within the mortgage community?
Members of Team loanDepot are highly active in organizations such as the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP), the National Association of Real Estate Brokers, the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), and others. We actively support the missions of these organizations through our financial contributions, participation, volunteer leadership, and advocacy. Our team serves on numerous local chapter boards, and in 2025, loanDepot loan consultant Gary Lai will become the national secretary of AREAA.
Our leaders are sought-after experts who, in the last year alone, have shared their insights through keynote speeches and panel discussions around diversity and inclusive housing policy at conferences, including NHC’s National Housing Conference, the National Black and Latino Economic Summit, NAHREP’s L’Attitude, the MBA Annual Convention, HousingWire Annual, and National Mortgage News’ Digital Mortgage Conference.
For three consecutive years, loanDepot has been among the top lenders with the highest number of loan originators on the NAHREP’s “Top 250 Latino Mortgage Originators” list, signifying the difference we’re making in Hispanic communities.
Can you give an example of what makes this company a leader in diversity?
Our focus on making homeownership more accessible and affordable for more families, particularly the increasingly diverse communities of first-time homebuyers, has led to tangible results.
According to 2022 HMDA data loanDepot is the country’s:
No. 3 lender serving minorities overall
No. 3 lender serving Hispanics/Latinos
No. 4 lender serving Blacks/African Americans
No. 4 lender serving American Indians
No. 6 lender serving Asian American/Pacific Islanders
NAN
(Nationwide Appraisal Network)
Oldsmar, Florida
Company CEO/ President: Joni Pilgrim
nan-amc.com
What does this company do to promote diversity within your workplace?
NAN’s diversity initiatives allow us to be inclusive of different cultures and lifestyles, establish a sense of belonging among team members, which fosters different ideas and innovations, leading to improved corporate culture and ultimately boosting productivity. Our approach to BIED (Bias, Inclusion, Equity, Diversity) is multi-pronged. We feel that the best way to tackle these issues and work towards resolutions, as well as continue to be a resource to our lender and appraiser partners, is to strengthen awareness and prioritize education and training within our internal teams and external partners. Internally, NAN established the BIED Committee, which is made up of team members and leadership from every department that meet regularly to review company policy and procedures and develop education/training opportunities. NAN also has mandatory training for every single employee to create a real focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion.
What steps is this company taking to promote diversity within the communities it does business in?
NAN collaborates with industry organizations like Fannie Mae’s Appraiser Diversity Initiative (ADI) to continue the discussion and remain a resource. ADI was launched to raise awareness of real estate appraisal career options through outreach events and to facilitate opportunities for overcoming barriers to entry in the field, and NAN is proud to support this important initiative focusing on scholarships, mentoring, and introduction to job opportunities for new appraisers from all walks of life.
What contributions is this company making to promote diversity, equality and inclusion within the mortgage community?
Stacy Caprioli, NAN Chief Appraiser, is our external BIED Committee Chairperson. Each quarter, we invite appraisers and lender partners to join her, along with special guests and industry experts, to discuss relevant industry topics as part of our BIED program. Past session topics include “Fair Housing and What it Means to Appraisers” and “Ensuring Equitable Treatment and Rebuilding Public Trust”.
Can you give an example of what makes this company a leader in diversity?
As a woman-owned company, NAN is a member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council and works hard to educate, promote, and train on equity and diversity both within the organization and the mortgage and finance industry. Through the implementation of the NAN BIED Committee, which promotes diversity and inclusion within our own corporate culture and hosts quarterly discussions with appraisers across the country, we feel we are pioneering the platform for such discussions and idea sharing. NAN has also implemented a Spanish-speaking division made up of Spanish-speaking professionals from all departments to assist our Spanish-speaking clients and their clients in better understanding the appraisal process.
Pennymac
Westlake Village, California
Company CEO/ President: David Spector
pennymac.com
Can you give an example of what makes this company a leader in diversity?
Pennymac’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Council expands and elevates the level of direct accountability for DEI initiatives to support Pennymac’s efforts to leverage diverse thinking, generate innovative ideas, and advance community projects that align with our company culture.
Our Vendor Diversity Outreach initiative was launched to promote vendor participation that is reflective of the diverse communities where we live and operate. Pennymac’s outreach efforts we launched to help us identify vendors that are at least 51% owned, operated and managed by individuals who are disabled; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ); minorities; service-disabled veterans; and/or women. We believe that creating a sustainable, diverse vendor base and an inclusive vendor process could improve quality, efficiency, and innovation, as well as support business development in our communities.
Our Chairman and CEO is the executive sponsor of the DEI Council and is charged with driving accountability of the DEI Council, setting the tone at the top, and providing strategic influence and oversight to ensure organizational alignment and business impact. Other members include executive leaders from diverse backgrounds and various departments across the organization. The DEI Council expands and elevates the level of direct accountability for DEI initiatives among our executive leaders, allowing us to efficiently connect and embrace our DEI vision, strategies, and priorities across the Company. The DEI Council oversees our six active business resource groups: BOLD, HOLA, InspirASIAN, PRIDE, SERVE, and wEMRG.
What does this company do to promote diversity within your workplace?
Pennymac’s continued growth and success are a direct reflection of the talent and diversity of our people. We’re committed to fostering a diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture through initiatives designed to attract, develop, and engage a highly talented and performance-focused workplace.
Succession planning is a strategic priority for our company, and it is critical to ensure continuity in our operations. With our succession planning strategy, we take a targeted approach to ensure we cultivate a strong pipeline of diverse executives who will deliver on future business growth.
We’ve also established leadership key performance indicators (KPIs) around the representation of women and underrepresented minorities in management positions. This leadership KPI is a critical component that supports our goal of being an employer of choice so that we continue to retain the very best talent. As of Aug. 31, 2023, women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups made up 75.2% of the workforce at Pennymac.
Additionally, we enhanced our Enterprise Mentor Program. We launched two new ones: one for individuals in our Pennymac Corporate University rotational analyst program and another for our six active Business Resource Groups (BRGs) — BOLD, HOLA, InspirASIAN, PRIDE, SERVE, and wEMRG — where team members are empowered to network, build connections, broaden their perspectives and develop their leadership skills. The BRG mentor program expands opportunities to all organizational tier levels and focuses on individuals with aspirations for personal and professional growth.
