Top Employers For Women 2026:
Where Women Lead

Fairway Home Mortgage stands out for the breadth of women’s representation across its leadership ranks. Women make up 61% of Fairway’s workforce and 52% of its executive team. Across executive leadership roles from AVP through the executive level, women account for 64%, and they hold 48% of management positions. Those figures reflect a commitment written into company policy: to “attract, retain, and promote diverse talent at Fairway.”

Fairway launched its Women’s Empowerment Employee Resource Group in June 2022, creating a formal channel for leadership development, internal advocacy, and direct communication with company leaders through an advisory council. Fairway also hosts annual “Grit and Grace” Women’s Summits around the country, with events held in Wisconsin, Texas, and Colorado, while its Teen Summits extend that investment to the next generation. Additional development resources include Lead Strong classes for people managers, Career Mapping, Customized Coaching Portfolios, and assessments such as Predictive Index, Everything DiSC, and Working Genius.

Fairway’s “Family Focused” core value shapes support from family planning through employees’ children’s college years. The company offers fertility and family-building coverage through Progyny, a company-paid five-month SNOO bassinet rental for new parents, and a scholarship program for employees and their college-aged children. Its 24/7 Employee Assistance Program includes six free counseling sessions a year. Fairway also created what it describes as a first-of-its-kind Women’s Safety Initiative, offering safety training and kits, product recommendations, and discounted home security monitoring. As the company puts it, “empowering women is not a program — it’s our culture.”

Women in workforce: 61%

Women on executive team: 52%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Flexible work schedules
• Work-from-home opportunities
• Fertility and family-building support (Progyny)
• SNOO bassinet rental for new parents (five months, company-paid)
• Fairway Scholarship Program for employees and their children
• WellBeats on-demand fitness and emotional-wellness resources
• LifeMatters Employee Assistance Program with 24/7 support
• Legal and financial consultations
• Child care, eldercare, and bereavement assistance
• Six free counseling sessions per year
• Corporate lactation rooms and private pumping spaces
• Women’s Safety Initiative, including training, safety kits, product recommendations, and discounted home-security monitoring
• Women’s Empowerment, Parenting, and Mental Health Awareness employee resource groups
• Leadership training, career mapping, and customized coaching

At Success Mortgage Partners, women’s leadership is visible throughout the organization. Women comprise three-quarters of SMP’s workforce, half of its C-suite, and more than half of its department leaders. Allison Johnston serves as president, Madonna Blanchard as chief legal counsel and chief growth officer, and Sue Meitner as chief sales officer. Their presence gives women across the company more than abstract encouragement; it offers clear examples of the authority, influence, and career longevity available to them.

That representation is reinforced by SMP’s Ladies in Lending network, which connects women across the company and the broader mortgage industry. Through shared experience, peer relationships, and leadership development, the network complements SMP’s coaching, training, mentorship, and professional development programs. Employees can also pursue industry education through organizations including the Mortgage Bankers Association and the Michigan Mortgage Lenders Association, extending their professional networks beyond the company.

SMP’s “Family First” philosophy gives that ambition room to coexist with life outside work. Employees are encouraged to attend school activities, games, doctor’s appointments, and other important family moments, while eligible roles can use the company’s hybrid model when appropriate. Dedicated lactation spaces and other accommodations provide additional support for new mothers. Together, those practices create a workplace where advancement does not require women to minimize the responsibilities that shape their lives beyond the office.

Women in workforce: 75%

Women in C-suite: 50%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Hybrid work model and remote-work flexibility for eligible positions
• “Family First” flexibility for family commitments
• Dedicated lactation rooms and the option to customize a private office for nursing or pumping
• Break time and flexibility for new mothers
• Ladies in Lending network
• Unlocking the Power of Her initiative
• Coaching, mentorship, training, and professional development programs

At Guild Mortgage, women’s influence is evident at the highest levels of the organization. CEO Terry Schmidt leads a company where women make up 62% of the workforce and 40% of the C-suite, placing women directly in the rooms where Guild’s priorities and long-term direction are set.

Guild gives women several paths to leadership. Development resources include Guild University, the Professional Development Info Hub, LAUNCH 2.0, and Accelerate. Elevate Coaching, 1:1 Coaching, and LIFT Manager Coaching support employees at different points in their careers. THRIVE, Guild’s community in support of women, is open to everyone and provides space for peer support, candid conversation, and visibility across roles and markets.

Guild designs its benefits around the idea that women move through different seasons of life and career. Beyond paid time off, maternity leave, and remote work in many roles, Guild offers a KinderCare tuition discount and a Dependent Care FSA. Nursing mothers get lactation space and break time. Guild’s medical plans also include a travel benefit. It helps members get covered care when services aren’t available in their home state or the nearest provider is more than 60 miles away. The company’s goal for the next generation is ambitious: not just a path into the mortgage industry, but a path to influence it.

Women in workforce: 62%

Women in C-suite: 40%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Paid time off
• Maternity leave
• Flexible, hybrid, and work-from-home opportunities in many roles
• KinderCare tuition discount
• Dependent Care FSA
• Employee discounts through Perks at Work
• Accommodations for nursing mothers, including lactation space and break time
• Medical plan travel benefit for covered care (subject to plan terms)
• Guild University and professional development programs
• Coaching programs (Elevate, 1:1, and LIFT Manager Coaching)
• THRIVE women’s community
• Scholarship support for employees and their families

At Gershman Mortgage, women are not waiting to be invited into important decisions; they are already helping make them. Women comprise 55% of the company’s 230 employees and 44% of its officers, and they lead several of its top-producing branches. Their authority extends across production, operations, hiring, customer experience, marketing, and the daily direction of the business. As the company puts it, “Women don’t just have a voice at Gershman. They have a hand in making the decisions.”

Gershman bases leadership development on performance and potential, and much of it happens person to person. Experienced leaders, many of them women, coach emerging talent and create opportunities for them to take on greater responsibility. That access extends to executive leadership. Gershman describes its structure as flat, allowing ideas from branch managers and loan officers to reach decision-makers without passing through layers of committees. The company is now developing a structured mentorship program for women interested in leadership, with female leaders helping design it.

Flexibility is central to how Gershman works. Many employees are in hybrid or fully remote roles. For a working mom, that can mean making school pickup or adjusting her hours when family needs come up. For new moms, it can mean more time with their babies during the workday. Gershman is also candid that the mortgage business has busy seasons. It responds by giving employees control over how and where they work.

Women in workforce: 55%

Women officers: 44%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Hybrid and fully remote work options
• Flexible schedules
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Accommodations for nursing mothers, including break time and dedicated lactation space
• One-on-one coaching from experienced leaders
• Formal women’s mentorship program (in development)

At Highlands Residential Mortgage, women’s advancement is visible across a workforce of just over 500 employees. Women comprise 59.5% of the organization and hold 40% of its C-suite roles, giving them meaningful representation in the conversations that shape business strategy, workplace culture, and the company’s future.

Highlands supports that representation with leadership development opportunities, mentoring and sponsorship, and regular pay-equity reviews. Women are encouraged to pursue leadership roles and are given the visibility, resources, and stretch assignments that help translate potential into experience. Leaders are expected to invite input from their teams and include employees in strategic discussions, ensuring that professional growth is tied not only to training, but also to genuine participation in the business. Industry mentorship and networking opportunities, including those available through Texas Women Mortgage Bankers and the National Association of Professional Mortgage Women, further connect women with peers and experienced leaders.

That investment is paired with practical support through different stages of life. Highlands offers flexible work arrangements, lactation accommodations, return-to-work support, and eight weeks of paid maternity leave with benefits covered during that period. The objective is not simply to retain women, but to give them room to build durable careers. “My vision is to ensure every woman at Highlands has the opportunity to advance her career, develop her talents, and make a meaningful impact,” said Highlands President Brian Bennett.

Women in workforce: 59.5%

Women in C-suite: 40%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Flexible work arrangements
• Eight weeks of paid maternity leave, with benefits covered
• Breastfeeding and lactation accommodations
• Return-from-maternity-leave support
• Pay-equity reviews
• Leadership development programs
• Mentoring and sponsorship programs

Canopy Mortgage’s leadership figures show what can happen when advancement is tied to performance and employees have room to grow. The company does not use gender quotas or targeted promotion tracks, yet women hold five of its 11 executive seats and 14 of 24 corporate management roles. They lead consequential functions including operations, finance, compliance, and training. Many advanced from within, carrying firsthand knowledge of the company’s work into management and executive decisions.

Instead of relying on a formal women-only leadership track, Canopy emphasizes executive sponsorship, access to senior leaders, and opportunities to take on greater responsibility. Its flat communication structure encourages employees to offer ideas and challenge assumptions regardless of title. For branch managers and loan officers, the company’s technology-driven model also provides considerable autonomy over schedules, margins, and pipelines — the kinds of day-to-day decisions that can shape both production and long-term career growth.

Flexibility is central to that model. “We believe flexibility should be a standard, not a concession,” the company says. Across most of the corporate team, managers evaluate outcomes rather than hours logged or time spent at a desk. That approach reduces the face-time penalty that can make flexibility costly to a woman’s career. At Canopy, the women using flexible arrangements are not working outside the leadership culture; they are helping define it.

Women in workforce: 53.4%

Women executives: 45%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Outcome-based flexible scheduling for most corporate roles
• Remote work options
• Autonomy over the workday, with no permission needed for personal and family needs
• Internal promotion pathways
• Open-door, flat communication culture
• Flexible break time for nursing mothers
• Clean, private, and secure lactation space provided upon request
• Support and flexibility for mothers returning to work

NFM Lending has placed women in positions where their leadership is both visible and consequential. Women comprise 57% of the workforce and approximately 40% of the salesforce, while eight women serve on the executive team. With LaTasha Waddy serving as president and another woman in a division leadership role, employees can see women contributing directly to the company’s strategy, operations, and growth.

NFM builds on that representation through a culture of coaching, internal advancement, and recognition. Leaders are expected to develop and promote talent, creating day-to-day opportunities for mentorship and sponsorship, even without a formal companywide program reserved for women. The company also reports that 25 female loan officers were recently recognized as Top Originators, giving their accomplishments visibility inside and outside the organization. Waddy has carried the mentorship conversation into the broader industry through appearances at Mortgage Bankers Association conferences.

In 2026, NFM introduced its first Ladies in Lending event during the company’s national sales rally. Designed as an ongoing platform for connection, mentorship, and recognition, the event gives women another forum in which to build relationships and share experience. Flexible work arrangements, where business needs allow, and benefits intended to support employees through different life stages reinforce that effort. NFM’s larger ambition is an industry where women’s influence “is the norm, not the exception.”

Women in workforce: 57%

Women in C-suite: 40%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Flexible work arrangements (where business needs allow)
• Benefits designed to support employees through different life stages
• Ladies in Lending event and platform
• Lactation and break room for nursing mothers
• Equitable access to career development
• Leader-driven coaching, mentorship, and sponsorship
• Internal promotion culture

CMG Financial has built substantial representation from its entry-level ranks through the executive suite. Women make up nearly 60% of the workforce, hold 40% of C-suite seats, and fill numerous director and executive roles. Representation is particularly strong in operations, where women comprise more than 73% of the team. The company has also developed a prominent roster of female originators; its nomination notes that more CMG women appeared on the 2023 Powerful Women of Mortgage Banking list than women from any other company.

Home Grown Career Development anchors CMG’s approach to building future leaders. The platform connects real-time coaching, structured training, mentorship, certifications, and skill development to each employee’s professional goals. By tying development to individual ambitions, the program creates a more deliberate bridge between strong performance and future leadership responsibility. Corporate-sponsored leadership programs, workshops, seminars, association memberships, and networking opportunities provide additional ways for women to deepen their expertise and expand their influence.

CMG pairs that investment with paid maternity leave, remote and flexible work options, accommodations for nursing mothers, and a stated commitment to pay equity. Together, those practices support a culture in which women champion one another while contributing to the company’s innovation, growth, and direction. In CMG’s words, it is “not just about representation — it’s about impact.”

Women in workforce: 59.9%

Women in C-suite: 40%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Flexible schedule
• Remote work opportunities
• Paid maternity leave
• Pay-equity commitment
• Accommodations for nursing mothers
• Home Grown Career Development coaching, training, and certifications
• Mentors and coaches
• Corporate-sponsored leadership training programs
• Professional workshops and seminars
• Association memberships
• Personal and professional networking

At Click n’ Close, women’s path to senior leadership is visible in the company’s promotion history. Women make up nearly two-thirds of the workforce and hold two of six C-suite seats: chief operating officer and chief compliance officer. One leader moved through chief compliance officer and director of correspondent lending roles before becoming COO within five years. Another built a national support and training role over nine years before being promoted to COO. A third advanced over 25 years from an entry-level shipping role to managing the company’s platform team.

The company has reinforced that representation through deliberate development and peer advocacy. When Click n’ Close expanded its underwriting department in 2021, the COO at the time assembled a five-person leadership team composed entirely of women. The company also funds professional credentials, including sponsorship of a woman project manager in the 2024–25 TMBA Certified Mortgage Leaders class. For a decade, women within the organization have regularly nominated and championed one another for industry recognition.

The company moved fully remote in 2020 and has kept remote-friendly work as the standard ever since. Nursing mothers may use private offices rather than a shared room. Eligible employees receive up to four weeks of paid parental leave in addition to applicable FMLA protections. For employees working on-site, yoga and Pilates are offered five days a week, and company leaders prepare healthy lunches twice a week. One employee summed up the culture in an anonymous survey by calling it “a work family.”

Women in workforce: 63.6%

Women in C-suite: 33%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Paid time off
• Remote work flexibility (standard since 2020)
• Up to four weeks of paid parental leave, plus FMLA job-protected leave
• Applicable short-term disability benefits for postpartum recovery
• Private offices for nursing mothers
• Consistent, criteria-based compensation practices
• On-site yoga and Pilates five days a week
• Healthy lunches twice weekly
• Menstrual products stocked in the office
• Sponsored leadership credentialing (TMBA Certified Mortgage Leaders)
• Manager coaching and cross-functional development

Dart Bank’s promotion record offers a clear measure of its leadership pipeline. As of the company’s nomination, women accounted for 79% of promotions in 2026, following 73.8% in 2025. Within Dart Bank Wholesale Lending, they hold 78% of senior leadership positions. Across the bank, women occupy 30% of executive leadership roles and 30% of seats on the board of directors, giving them influence in both day-to-day management and long-term governance.

The bank develops that pipeline through its Emerging Leader Program, Leadership Development Program, mentorship, and continuing education. Women make up 83% of participants in the Emerging Leader Program, providing a strong foundation for future advancement. Employees are also encouraged to attend industry conferences, Women in Banking events, and Women-Led Symposiums; join professional associations; and pursue board or committee service. Those opportunities extend development beyond a job title, helping women build the expertise, relationships, and industry visibility that often precede senior leadership.

Dart Bank pairs career investment with flexibility intended to make long-term participation possible. Employees have access to flexible scheduling, work-from-home options, paid time off, parental leave, and wellness resources. Nursing mothers receive break time and private, designated spaces, while employees can work with supervisors on arrangements related to caregiving, education, parental leave, or other major life changes. The result is a model that treats advancement and personal responsibilities as considerations to be managed together, rather than competing priorities.

Women in Wholesale senior leadership: 78%

Women in bank executive leadership: 30%

Reported benefits and development resources:

• Flexible scheduling
• Work-from-home opportunities
• Paid time off
• Parental leave
• Accommodations for nursing mothers, including break time and private designated spaces
• Individualized arrangements for caregiving responsibilities, medical appointments, education, parental-leave transitions, and major life events
• Wellness resources
• Emerging Leader and Leadership Development Programs
• Mentorship opportunities
• Industry conference, Women in Banking, and Women-Led Symposium participation
• Continuing education and professional association support