“We are more alike than we are different”: Creating an inclusive workplace

This week on Mortgage Connects, we sit down for a conversation with Amber Lawrence, Associate Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for the Mortgage Bankers Association or the MBA. Amber develops organizational-wide diversity and inclusion framework goals and equitable practices for the MBA, including member-facing DEI initiatives. We discuss:

• Why companies that are more diverse are likely to financially outperform their peers and have higher revenue due to innovation
• Why it’s critical that organizations incorporate DEI practices into workplace policies and culture 
• The MBA's mission to foster a culture of DEI practices within the real estate and finance industry
• The Home for All Pledge, an action pledge to promote inclusion in housing
• Amber’s belief that staying educated and informed is the best approach to embracing DEI and creating an environment of authenticity 

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Transcript

Concepcion Guerrero (00:03):

Welcome to Mortgage Connects by MGIC, bringing you the latest insights from top mortgage professionals around the industry. I'm your host Concepcion Guerrero. Joining me today is Amber Lawrence associate vice president of diversity equity and inclusion for the mortgage banker associate or the MBA. Amber has over 15 years of experience in real estate and mortgage finance and nonprofit associations. She is responsible for developing organizational-wide diversity and inclusion framework goals and equitable practices, as well as member-facing DEI initiatives with the MBA. In her previous capacity with the MBA, she was a core member of the MBA's educations leadership team, where she managed its professional certification and designations like the certified mortgage bankers or the CMB program. She was also responsible for managing the full suite of MBA educations, residential and commercial designation programs in including MBA's premier classroom program, school of mortgage banking and future leaders. And in 2021, Amber completed the executive certification and diversity and coaching. Amber. Welcome. It's great to have you here today.

Amber Lawerence (01:17):

Thank you so much for having me Concepcion and I so appreciate the kind words and the very, very warm welcome. Thank you.

Concepcion Guerrero (01:23):

You're very welcome. Now you have an impressive background when it comes to the mortgage world, and if I'm not mistaken, you were appointed as the associate vice president of diversity equity and inclusion for the MBA back in September. So can you start by talking to me about why it's so important for organizations nowadays to focus on their diversity and inclusion efforts?

Amber Lawerence (01:50):

Sure thing diversity equity and inclusion is such a hot topic for many organizations, but it's more than that. It's about culture and not just in the sense of gender, race, age, lifestyle - the traditional things. It's about workplace culture. And I have a few stats from studies completed by McKenzie and Company that give us real data on why DEI is an important focus. And I wanna use that to frame kind of what I want to say about that. The first stat: companies diverse in gender are 25% more likely to financially outperform their peers. So that speaks to the health and profitability of an organization. The second stat: companies with more diverse management have 19% higher revenue due to innovation. And that speaks to having different perspectives at the leadership level. That third stat I want to use and highlight: companies that are diverse in ethnicity are 36% more likely to outperform their peers. So now it's not just about money and financial viability focusing on DE&I as a priority is just the right thing to do honestly, and this especially rings true when many employers are experiencing challenges in hiring right now, and our workforce is changing globally and it's necessary to embrace that change and embed solid, DE and I practices into the fabric of the day-to-day policies and workplace culture.

Concepcion Guerrero (03:23):

The MBA is very well recognized and highly regarded. And I venture to say that, you know, we've all come across some of their trainings at one point of our careers, but in today's conversation, I wanna focus on diversity and inclusion. The MBA's mission is to foster a culture of diversity equity and inclusion within the real estate and finance industry. So it has developed these five pillars of diversity, equity and inclusion. Can you explain how these pillars play a role in the diversity efforts, both internally and externally for the MBA?

Amber Lawerence (04:00):

Absolutely. So I'll outline the pillars and also respond one by one, if you will. So that first one being connecting our diverse members to one another, this speaks to the marketplace and how we provide networking opportunities through committees, online communities, and more, and that drives our goals as well as our members goals. We're also planning to incorporate affinity groups, into our membership benefits in the near future. That Second pillar of facilitating diversity and inclusion learning. This also speaks to the marketplace and how we offer resources, namely webinars, workshops, and partner programs - that was some of the training that you referenced. But also forthcoming this year we have the DEI playbook, a one stop holistic resource for our members that will help bolster their current DEI initiatives and programs. It's also going to be helpful to our members who have yet to establish internal D E and I initiatives, or for those who lack the resources to stand up internal programs. That third pillar promoting and marketing diversity and inclusion similar to the two previous pillars.

Amber Lawerence (05:14):

This speaks to establishing and promoting policy elevating and promoting partnerships and moving needle on the culture and that which impacts the communities we serve. The Fourth pillar attracting, retaining and promoting diverse talent at MBA. This happens to be a passion of mine actually. And part of the home for all pledge that I'll speak to shortly. For far too long, there has been a disparity in home ownership and financial wealth gap in underrepresented communities. And a component of that is there not being much diversity or representation in the roles that interface with the community, namely banks, mortgage companies, and so on. And we have the ability to change that narrative and employ more individuals that look like and understand the communities we serve, and also be more inclusive at the leadership level. And finally that fifth pillar creating a culture of inclusion at MBA.

Amber Lawerence (06:17):

This speaks to how we foster a culture where differences are valued and employees feel they belong and are treated fairly. And to name a few of our initiatives, we have benchmarking for goals and diverse hiring, diversity action plans, which we also call I statements from our senior leadership. We also offer internal diversity training for our staff, which namely happens at the onboarding stage, but also occurs throughout the year and as well as events centered around cultural and DEI observances. So those five pillars play a major role in everything that we do at the MBA on a day to-day-basis.

Concepcion Guerrero (06:59):

Love it. I love those pillars. I think it keeps everyone in sync and, you know, I might, I might take a tidbit from one of those to just incorporate my overall job here. So thank you for expanding on those now, you've you mentioned the home for all pledge here, which is an action pledge to promote inclusion and housing. And it's wonderful to see an extensive list of those companies and organizations that have signed a pledge thus far. Can you tell me how this pledge came to be and what our participating companies doing? And I think also most importantly, how can one sign up?

Amber Lawerence (07:36):

Yeah, absolutely. And wanna thank MGIC for also being an early pledge signer. So great to have you all in the ranks. The home law pledge is the innovation of our current chair of our board of directors. Kristy Fercho. Kristy is also the executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo home lending. She announced the pledge during MBA's annual convention this past October in San Diego. And as she stated, it's the most comprehensive, concrete and far reaching initiative we've embarked upon to expand and improve minority home ownership, improve affordability and stability in the rental market, and to ensure our workforce better reflects the diverse makeup of the communities and borrowers we serve. So every member company, both residential and commercial multifamily is invited to participate, namely a senior member of an organization. For example, like the CEO or CEO, or even like the head of mortgage lending or other department heads should be the one to complete the submission form.

Amber Lawerence (08:43):

And that's located at mba.org/homeforall. And as I mentioned, only one senior member per organization needs to sign this pledge, but it's also important to note that there are no financial obligations or fundraising requirements associated with signing. And as you referenced we currently have over 200 members who have signed the pledge and the majority of those were already doing the work. And many of those organizations offer products and services that work in conjunction with state and local organizations as well as federal. And they offer down payment assistant programs or government programs with lower credit score requirements. Companies are also supporting our place-based initiative convergence and our building generational wealth policy initiative. Others are being innovative in their efforts of diversifying the workforce by partnering with HBCU and Hispanic serving institutions by offering education opportunities, as well as internships. There's just so much more great work being done. And we intend to highlight those efforts via upcoming webinars, as well as a repository on our Home For All website in the future.

Concepcion Guerrero (09:53):

Wonderful to hear Amber, thank you for that. Now there are companies that are in various stages of their diversity and inclusion efforts. Some are doing a wonderful job incorporating these efforts in their everyday goals while there's others that are just getting started. So what advice would you give to those individuals that are eager to do more in supporting their company or organization's efforts tied to diversity and inclusion?

Amber Lawerence (10:20):

Great. I mean, I've been asked this question recently and I think it's great because DE and I is not just a singular person or small group of people's responsibility, it's everyone. So at a minimum individuals should be very clear on what the organization's mission and values are as it relates to DE and I, this is both at the internal and forward facing level, if that's applicable. They should also identify themselves to their leadership or internal DEI practitioners and ask where, or how can they be impactful to the organization because that makes it very specific to the needs. But if there's no internal practitioner or leadership tasked with carrying out the organization's DE and I goals, that's not a problem. I encourage everyone to stay educated and informed on current issues in the DE and I space. There are resources such as the diversity movement.

Amber Lawerence (11:19):

It's a website and a consultancy group that provides complimentary resources, such as online training, white papers, case studies, data, and so much more. There's also a great resource that many of my MBA colleagues use: a weekly online newsletter email called Better Allies. Every Friday that email contains five helpful tips or action items. It's five ally actions is the title of the email. And the goal of this email is to help create a more inclusive workplace in a very direct way. And oftentimes we post those tips on our internal Salesforce and it helps foster discussion among our colleagues in a very organic way. And sometimes that conversation evolves in a directly and positively impacts our dialogue with one another, which again, leads to better understanding of how to best support each other as well as our members. So there's so many resources available. And I think just at minimum, staying educated and being informed is the best approach.

Concepcion Guerrero (12:27):

Thank you for those for that advice. I know I jotted down to sign up for that better allies news letter, for sure. Now I want to get a little personal now. Can you tell us how your work has been influenced or enhanced by diverse experiences?

Amber Lawerence (12:44):

Absolutely. So my everyday lived experience can be defined as diverse. I am a black woman. I'm also an H B C U graduate and was raised in a multiracial family. I was also raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, which is known for its long time segregated history. Although there are strides for improvement happening. I also was bused to a predominantly white and Jewish suburban school district from elementary through high school. So that dichotomy me between my home life early schooling and college experiences have given me this perspective of acceptance and that's acceptance of multiple cultures and observances. And what I've found is that we are more alike than we are different because ultimately we're all human and these lived experiences also incited my passion for learning. And while I didn't intend to pursue a career in the nonprofit or mortgage finance industry I went to school with the dreams of being a lawyer. I believe though it's no accident that I'm present in this moment where both my passion for learning and making a difference has truly aligned, and I'm thankful I get to do this work. It's so important. And I meet so many different people on a regular basis with so many different lived experiences. So my goal is to continually share what I've learned and what I know with any and everyone that is willing to listen.

Concepcion Guerrero (14:13):

Wonderful. Thank you, Amber. Now, when looking at the mortgage industry it's fair to say that there isn't much overall diversity. So in your opinion, what is the most challenging aspect of working in a non-diverse environment and what would be the best way to overcome those challenges?

Amber Lawerence (14:34):

That's a great question, because I think that everyone who's been in the DEI space can relate to that. The biggest challenge of working in a non-diverse environment is sometimes the lack of understanding. I know that's a little broad and very high level. But what I mean is that there's a lack of understanding of differences, of opinion, lifestyles, et cetera. The things that you may not necessarily see on face value, like gender and race. And what this does is sometimes forces inauthenticity. It does the opposite of creating an environment where people can show up as their whole and true selves. But I do believe that tide is changing. For example, I'm in a position to hold space for as well as highlight my colleagues who have diverse lived experiences, and we encourage opportunities to share past and current challenges as it relates to race and gender.

Amber Lawerence (15:32):

You know, those things you can see as well as the things you can't, like I said, your opinions or your lifestyle. And I mentioned before, too, that in reference to better allyship, it changes perspectives and fosters a really supportive environment. I think that's the best way to overcome an issue of non diversity or an environment of non diversity, just ensure that we're creating and holding spaces for each other and being gracious whenever there's a misstep or when someone maybe says the wrong thing or something that's offensive, being able to identify it in a way that fosters true growth is how we'll be able to overcome those challenges.

Concepcion Guerrero (16:16):

Now, in, in closing here, Amber, what advice would you give to someone wanting to pursue a career in the diversity equity and inclusion sector?

Amber Lawerence (16:26):

Sure. And I'm gonna share things that were shared with me. I happen to align myself with those than the DE and I space before I was appointed to the role that I have. The first thing would be to have a strong knowledge of the foundations of DE and I, and be prepared to be on a learning continuum. I never stop learning and you always have to stay informed and align yourself with the best practices and other practitioners in this space. I encourage people to seek out mentors and build genuine relationships. I also encourage people when they're seeking a career to ensure that their support, meaning a team, people who will, you know, advocate for you but also provide their support. I mean, this is applicable to general career advice, but it's ever important in the DE and I space, the work can truly be emotionally heavy at times, which leads me to my next point, which is practicing self care and be sure to create and hold space for your personal life.

Amber Lawerence (17:32):

Again, the work we sometimes do is truly emotionally expensive, and there's nothing like creating that distance so that you can kind of have that harmony from what you actually are doing in the day to day workspace and also what you enjoy and love to do in your personal time. And one final thing is I heard this one time: success always involves failure or missteps. So to that end be gracious to yourself and, and others, and know that you won't always get it right, but be willing to do the work to get there. I also read that there is no final destination because diversity equity and inclusion will continuously evolve. And so you'll always find something different to learn or a new issue that must be addressed. So I try to keep that as my north star and serves me well.

Concepcion Guerrero (18:28):

Right. Love the tips. Love the advice, love everything that you shared here with us today. Amber, thank you so much for your time. We truly, truly appreciate it. And thank you all for listening for the latest industry insights. Subscribe to mortgage connects on apple, Stitcher, Google podcast, Spotify, Amazon music, or go to mortgage-connects.com

Amber Lawerence (18:51):

Thank you!