DS News

12 FIVE MINUTES WITH GET TO KNOW INDUSTRY EXECUTIVES BEYOND THE BOARDROOM Lola Oyewole has been at the forefront of fostering positive changes in diversity and inclusion not only at Ocwen but also for the industry. A member of the leadership team at the American Mortgage Diversity Council (AMDC), Oyewole is passionate about combining culture, innovation, leadership, and inclusiveness to create workplaces that engage team members. In her role at Ocwen, she is responsible for leading and driving the human resources strategy across U.S. operations supporting over 2,000 employees nationwide and also leads Ocwen's D&I strategy globally. DS News spoke to her about some of the D&I initiatives at Ocwen and trends in this space. What diversity and inclusion best practices does Ocwen follow? When we launched our D&I strategy in 2015, we wanted to ensure that we set a solid foundation for our D&I practices throughout the company by focusing on four key areas. e first is leadership, which is about embracing and fostering a culture of inclusion at all levels throughout the company. e second is Workforce, which is about attracting, developing, retaining, and advancing the best and brightest talent. e third focus area is supplier diversity, which is about achieving a range of suppliers, vendors, and service providers who align with our diversity and inclusion strategies. e fourth is community engagement, which includes ensuring that Ocwen has a significant presence in a core group of diverse, community-based organizations and philanthropies. is foundation has helped us to stay laser focused on specific actions that make an impact across the company. As the leader of Ocwen's D&I initiatives can you give an example of an initiative that has made a difference to your global network? Yes, we recently launched the Ocwen Global Women's Network, an affinity group aimed at empowering women and encouraging professional development, workplace flexibility, and equal representation of women at all levels of our company globally. rough this group, we're conducting professional workshops and leadership events for all members. We are enhancing the exposure of women and highlighting their accomplishments internally and in the industry. We're also making sure that more women are represented as we bring in new leaders. Since we launched the Ocwen Global Women's Network in 2017 we have increased the representation of women in leadership levels by 6 percent globally. at's a really big deal for us. What steps do you recommend to minimize unconscious bias so that it helps business success? Being aware that unconscious bias affects every area of our lives is key. Education is a good first step; it is important to train team members on what unconscious bias is so that they are fully aware of how biases show up and how it affects us in our daily interactions with each other. Ocwen provides mandatory unconscious bias training for all employees. Organizations can also develop objective indicators and outcomes for hiring, evaluation, and promotion. ey can ensure that there are consistent criteria used to assess performance evaluations. What's the most rewarding aspect of your job? I absolutely love it when I've made a difference in someone's life. If I can help to unlock someone's potential and bring that out, it is very satisfying. I also enjoy transforming cultures and improving the overall work environment. It's hard work but when you see positive changes it is well worth it. What did your 2018 Keystone Award nomination mean to you? I'm incredibly honored to be nominated along-side such dynamic women. When I read their background, I'm extremely proud of the work and accomplishments that they've achieved in their companies as well as in the industry. "Being aware that unconscious bias affects every area of our lives is key. It is important to train team members on what unconscious bias is so that they are fully aware of how biases show up and how it affects us in our daily interactions with each other." Lola Oyewole Director, Human Resources and Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, Ocwen Financial Corporation

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