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96 "I SEE A MUCH DIFFERENT GROUP LEADING THE INDUSTRY FORWARD TODAY. THERE'S BEEN A LOT OF PROGRESS." leaders accomplish this by ensuring sourcing solutions reach a diverse audience. Also, diverse does not automatically mean inclusive. Edmond Buckley, president of Aspen Grove Solutions, a Frederick, Md.-based provider of technology solutions for the property preservation and REO sector, says that just because a company is considered diverse, its workforce might only represent that one sliver diversity. A business owned by a women that only hires women, for example, would by nature not be inclusive. Inclusion opens the idea that people of all types actually have a voice at the table. Or, rather, tables. e thing about the U.S. housing market is that there is no one market. Getting through to borrowers and would-be borrowers can't be done with one predetermined "ideal" mix of people on the other side of the desk. And yet, Travis-Johnson says, lenders and servicers absolutely need to have good people on the team who can represent the many populations that make up the American borrower. GETTING STARTED So where to start? First, Travis-Johnson says, for inclusion to really work, servicers looking to hire a broader array of people must have a desire to do so, beyond the regulations. Yes, there are anti-discrimination laws, and yes, there are proposed standards in the Dodd-Frank Act (a lot of them) that mandate setting up policies, mission statements, training programs, and communications strategies for reaching the panoply of American borrowers, but companies need to see the value of inclusion and diversity beyond the pale of government oversight. "It shouldn't take regulation to implement some normal tools for inclusion," she says. "And we don't want regulation to become another form of Affirmative Action." Diversity and inclusion are not accomplished by giving set-aside opportunities (that is affirmative action) it is achieved through equal access to all opportunities. Better, she says, is to extol the virtues of inclusion as an economic engine and as simply being a good corporate citizen. People want to feel they're heard and that the people involved in selling them their biggest investment understand what their specific needs are. "I think people like to do business with people who are like them," says Raymond Barbone, executive vice president of mortgage services at BankUnited. "If people see a level of diversity they can relate to, it helps their perception of and trust for the organization." Still, where should a company start, especially when it's just starting out? For Buckley, overall quality in the core management of the company must not be compromised to achieve diversity and inclusion. A business must strive for the best possible team that is inclusive, for diversity and inclusion to be recognized for the benefits that it brings. "In building up a workforce, you can't start [with diversity]," Buckley says. "You need to seek the best and brightest. Once you have the best and brightest to select from, you can apply other factors like diversity into the hiring process." From there, Buckley says, work to build a diverse workforce and to be more inclusive through education and training programs. A BETTER WORKFORCE But let's take for granted that a mortgage company is already operating well and now wants to diversify its staff. Where does that start? e most nagging dilemma in diversity hiring has for a long time been that while employers say they can't find non-white-male applicants, non-white-male jobseekers say there are no jobs they're qualified for. Indeed, the inability to get a job without experience vs. the inability to get experience without a job has plagued young workers in particular for decades, but this takes on an extra layer when specifically looking to hire a more varied staff. Changing this, says Travis-Johnson, begins early. Mortgage companies must start by looking at who they serve and what their communities look like. is sense of purposefulness in mission needs to be able to identify what sectors of the population the business is missing out on‒‒maybe no one on staff is younger than RAY BARBONE EVP BANKUNITED

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