WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today announced that it has given Wells Fargo Home Lending an inaugural Diversity & Inclusion Award for its efforts in market outreach.
This is the first year that MBA recognized member companies for their diversity and inclusion efforts. Companies were recognized in two different categories: organizational diversity & inclusion and market outreach strategies.
“These awards recognize the importance of embracing a diverse and inclusive real estate finance industry,” said MBA Chairman Rodrigo López, CMB, Executive Chairman of NorthMarq Capital and the previous Chairman of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee.
“MBA received an overwhelming amount of submissions to our inaugural awards, and faced a difficult challenge in selecting from a strong pool of applicants. We are pleased to see so many companies dedicating resources and efforts towards these important issues,” Lopez continued.
Company initiatives were scored by two groups of judges consisting of members of MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion Committee and MBA staff. The companies were scored based on: 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; replicability of the program; innovative program approaches; and program success in broadening the culture of the organization through the values of diversity and inclusion.
For Market Outreach Strategies: Wells Fargo Home Lending
The Market Strategies award recognizes company initiatives that are specifically developed and designed to increase outreach, marketing, and products to attract customers from the industry’s fastest growing market segments. This award commends the hard work, dedication, and creativity in the creation of exemplary diversity and inclusion programs focused on new market outreach.
Wells Fargo Home Lending has developed and sustained broad comprehensive strategies over the past several years to make sustainable homeownership possible for low-to-moderate and minority customers.
Since 2012, Wells Fargo has provided nearly $302 million in downpayment assistance and program support through LIFT programs (NeighborhoodLIFT®, CityLIFT® and HomeLIFT) educating thousands of potential homeowners, revitalizing communities, and helping create thousands of homeowners. In May 2016, the company launched yourFirst Mortgage, a new low down payment home loan program that reduces complexity and the barriers to access of similar conventional low down payment options in the market today. Also in 2016, Wells Fargo Home Lending received USDA recognition as a “Champion of Rural Housing.”
Wells Fargo Home Lending has also partnered with the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) on a 10-year, $125 billion commitment to lend to Hispanic households for the purpose of buying a home, and a $10 million pledge by the Wells Fargo Foundation in support of financial education and counselling for Hispanic homebuyers. In addition, Wells Fargo Home Lending continued to focus on the diversity of its sales team, including a plan to substantially increase the number of Hispanic Home Mortgage Consultants. In 2015, half of the originators on NAHREP’s list of the top 250 Latino Mortgage Originators were Wells Fargo Home Mortgage consultants, including 10 of the top 25.
Thus far in 2016, over 11,000 Wells Fargo employees dedicated over 60,000 hours to support more than 390 organizations build, renovate, paint, or repair more than 500 homes for low-to-moderate income homebuyers and homeowners in 44 states and the District of Columbia. Since 2009, Wells Fargo Home Lending has helped more than 46,000 customers at over 7,700 outreach activities across the country, including more than 1,619 home preservation events and 117 Home Preservation Workshops hosted by Wells Fargo Home Lending.
At MBA’s Annual Convention in Boston this past October, Ballard Spahr and SunTrust Mortgage were recognized for their efforts in Organizational Diversity & Inclusion, and The PrivateBank and Trust Company was also recognized for Market Outreach Strategies.
Commercial and Multifamily members will have a separate award process, with nominations opening at a later date to be announced and awards presented at the CREF/Multifamily Housing Convention & Expo next February in San Diego, CA.
MBA is hosting its third annual Summit on Diversity and Inclusion in Washington, DC, November 16-17, click here for more information. To learn more about MBA’s Diversity and Inclusion efforts, visit mba.org/diversity.
