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76 Conversations. "ese discussions take a deep dive into subjects that are often taboo in the workplace, in a setting where employees can listen, ask questions, and better understand workforce differences. Topics in the past have included things like race, religion, and sexual orientation, and it's a safe environment where employees can go learn. e more educated you are about somebody else's differences, the more you can understand and learn how to work with people from various backgrounds." Mr. Cooper's Dillard was also eager to spotlight the organization's "Cooper Resource Teams," an initiative designed to help build that internal employee engagement in D&I. e company has 10 employee resource teams, including groups such as Cooper Pride, an LGBTQ group; Interfaith Coopers, which unites employees from a variety of religious backgrounds; and groups for employees of Asian, African-American, Hispanic, and various other ethnic descents. For a new resource group to get the green light from Mr. Cooper, it needs to have at least 30 members who are interested in participating. "It can't just be a free-for-all where every team gets to do whatever they want," Dillard said. "We have 'the four Cs' that every group has to focus on: community, career development, connecting, and giving back to the company." Dillard meets with the groups on a monthly basis to ensure they're living up to their charters and spending their time and money appropriately. When asked for advice she might have for other organizations looking to emulate the idea of Mr. Cooper's resource groups, Dillard said, "Make sure it's not just a social thing because then you don't have the depth that you need to make these teams a real resource." One way the resource groups give back is that new hires at Mr. Cooper can request a Cooper colleague from any of those teams—a sort of mentor. Dillard explains, "e first week you come to work here, we send you an email, we introduce the teams and say, "Would you like to get to know somebody from this team?' ey'll onboard you for 30 days, introduce you to that group, and help you acclimate to our world." Freddie Mac recently experimented with a similar pilot program, according to Roemer. Freddie Mac's program engaged a group of high-performing female directors and managers and then put them through an awareness and training program about what it means to be sponsored. "Where mentorship might be a 50/50 relationship, with sponsorship the person who is being sponsored is like 90 percent responsible for this relationship," Roemer said. "e person being sponsored needs to ensure they're showing up for the sponsor and driving the relationship. When managed effectively, the sponsor can significantly help the person being sponsored grow and develop their career." Roemer also pointed to the organization's neurodiversity program as an example of an internal program celebrating and encouraging diversity. "We have an internship for adults on the autism spectrum. ey're high functioning, usually with at least an undergraduate degree or a master's degree. ey're filling roles where these individuals have the skill and the ability to do the job, but they are sometimes challenged in getting through a traditional interview process, a phone screening process, or they just can't actually get the work experience to support the degree that they have." Roemer said that Freddie has had the neurodiversity program in place for five years now: a 16-week paid internship designed to give neurodiverse individuals "exposure to the business as well as a runway for them to prove themselves." If all works out well, they're converted to a full- time Freddie Mac employee, and at the very least, they have a solid work experience they can take with them on a resume." Roemer said that the program brings in four to five individuals a year, and over half of them have been converted to full- time Freddie Mac employees over the course of the program's five-year existence. GIVING BACK One organization working hard to promote D&I initiatives within the mortgage space is the American Mortgage Diversity Council, which provides a platform for collaboration of mortgage industry leaders for the advancement of diversity and inclusion dialogue. e organization develops and provides tools and strategies to create an understanding and appreciation of individual differences in thought, experience, race, ethnicity, culture, religion, style, sexual orientation, and gender identity. e American Mortgage Diversity Council came about as the result of a conversation between Fannie Mae's Michael Ruiz and Ed Delgado, President and CEO of the Five Star Institute. "We were at an event, and I knew him by reputation and by sight," Ruiz said. "I walked up to him and said, 'My name's Michael Ruiz. I'm with Fannie Mae, and I think that we've got an issue that bears discussion, so I'd like to talk to you about it.' We set up a meeting a week or so thereafter, and that conversation is when AMDC came to be." is year, Bank of America partnered with the American Mortgage Diversity Council for a series of LGBT Town Halls. BOA and the AMDC hosted events in Dallas, Chicago, Miami, and Los Angeles. "e structure is focused on learning the challenges within the LGBT community when it comes to credit access, to buying a home, that sort of thing," Cummings said. "e next step is to write a white paper, put together a toolkit and help set some understanding and groundwork for how to approach homeownership in the LGBT community. "A big piece of it is making sure everybody feels included in the D&I journey," Dillard said. "is is not something that is separate from the work—it is part of the work. You have to think about the subtleties. Like when you're in a meeting and some people aren't participating. When you're handing out projects, do you always go to the same people; does everybody get a chance? Are you asking people without kids to do more than people who do?" "You have to make it genuine," Saab said. "Too many times, companies treat diversity as a check-the box exercise, and it can feel forced. If you are going to invest time in making diversity a priority in the company, you must be prepared to take the appropriate action. If you realize your gaps and fail to take action, that can be worse than not acknowleding diversity is important in the first place." "Diversity and inclusion is not a fad; it's not a passing fancy," Ruiz said. "ere are different measures or different avenues by which to demonstrate one's commitment, or an institution's commitment, to diversity and inclusion. But when employed effectively, diversity and inclusion initiatives tend to allow you to make better decisions because you have a broader look at the world." "A frustration I have is that a lot of people don't feel like they're involved in the D&I journey," Dillard said. "People may think, 'Oh, D&I is important, but that doesn't involve me.' And it involves everybody. Because everybody can have a daughter. Everybody has a sister. Everybody has that next generation that's coming up in the workforce who that needs that extra support and encouragement. Especially for those of us in the industry who are in the last chapters in our careers—the last quarter of the book versus the first quarter of the book— that's our responsibility. To leave this industry better than we found it and to provide a place where women, people of different religions and nationalities, and people of color all feel supported, encouraged, and celebrated."

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