5 questions for Mortgage Bankers Association's Lisa Haynes on inclusion

March 30, 2021 9:59 AM

With over two decades of experience in financial services, the Mortgage Bankers Association’s senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief diversity and inclusion officer Lisa Haynes witnessed the field’s lack of representation firsthand.

“As a Black woman in the finance profession, I have spent my career being the ‘only’ in the room,” she said.

Over the past year, scores of companies released statements about the importance of equality and equity, as chief diversity and inclusion officer positions were created in c-suites across the mortgage industry, including at government-sponsored enterprise Fannie Mae.

But measurable actions need to be taken to make sure it goes beyond lip service and posturing said Haynes who has been with the MBA for the past six years and previous to that held director and vice president roles in financial analysis and accounting at Fannie Mae. Diverse representation needs to start at the top of organizations in order to close opportunity gaps between races, she said.

Lisa Haynes_MBA (2).jpg — Lisa Haynes, Mortgage Bankers Association’s senior vice president, chief financial officer, and chief diversity and inclusion officer

Below is a discussion with Haynes about how fuller representation is essential for the future of business. Her responses are excerpted and edited for length and clarity.

Tell us about your path to the chief D&I role at the MBA.

I had an unusual path to the position. I joined MBA in 2014 as the CFO and became engaged with the team working on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) a couple of years later. MBA has always executed on DE&I as a team with representation across the organization.

In 2018, the then-CEO [David Stevens] decided that DE&I would become a priority for MBA. He wanted to continue the team approach but wanted one person reporting directly to him accountable for executing on strategy. I took on that role.

How is the MBA making sure this isn’t just about optics?

MBA has set specific goals on its scorecard in line with Peter Drucker’s, “if you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” We have set multiyear goals to increase our Board of Directors’ diversity, including Boards of Governors, Committees/Councils and member Network Groups. These goals target increasing the percentage of women and the percentage of people of color over the next three years.

In addition, we have set an internal goal to increase the percentage of people of color in our leadership (VP and above) over the next three years.

As a whole, what steps can the mortgage industry take to do a better job with DE&I?

To steal a phrase from our former Board Chair, Chris George, D&I doesn’t just stand for diversity and inclusion but also deliberate and intentional. The industry has to prioritize DE&I the same way it does other business issues.

DE&I isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s a business imperative. According to Brookings Institute, this country will be majority-minority by 2045. That means the talent pool is changing and companies must know how to attract and retain diverse talent. Attracting talent is one thing, but retaining talent is the challenge. That is where equity and inclusion come into play.

Companies must have a culture where employees feel like they belong and they are treated fairly. For many people of color, when no one in leadership looks like them, a sense of belonging can be challenging.

Then there’s the business side. Companies must know how to market to and engage with the changing consumer. There are nuances to culture in communities of color and companies may not be successful in securing business without understanding some of those differences. For example, multi-generation households are very common in communities of color. Companies that figure out how to create mortgage products recognizing that nuance will be ahead of the game.

Diversity in leadership and staff brings a voice to the table needed to ensure all perspectives are represented. Companies that ignore the shift in demographics may find themselves in the seat of Blockbuster, which never saw Netflix coming until it was too late.

What is the MBA’s Voices series and how did it come to be?

The summer of 2020 gave renewed voice to the racial injustice that exists in our country. It magnified the fact that all voices are not heard equally. As a Black woman in the finance profession, I have spent my career being the ‘only’ in the room.

The real estate finance industry continues to be predominantly white and male, particularly at the top. Increasingly, women are emerging as leaders in organizations, but the percentage of women of color is still very low. I approached Marcia Davies, MBA’s COO and founder of mPower — our women’s networking program — with the idea to give a voice to women in our industry.

We designed our first three-part series, “Voices: Courageous Conversations with Women of Color,” to explore the experience of being a woman of color in real estate finance. The three sessions showcased some of the industry’s best and brightest, telling their story and discussing with their white counterparts how their experiences differ.

We plan to continue this series, shifting the discussion to Men of Color, LGBTQ+, and those with disabilities.

What are the most effective ways to aid in closing the homeownership gap between races?

The homeownership gap is a multi-faceted problem that will require a multi-pronged approach. There is a litany of issues that need to be addressed: housing affordability, down payment assistance, student loans, knowledge and trust gaps, to name a few.

But I believe closing the homeownership gap is more than just about a number. There is a major wealth gap between whites and Black and Latinx communities. Homeownership is one way to help close that gap, but because both Blacks and Latinx have less equity in their homes statistically because of lower down payments, homeownership isn’t the answer to the wealth gap. We have to consider solutions that address the long-term impacts of the systematic racism that got us here.

There is no one action to close the gap, so we need all parties at the table — the White House, legislators, regulators, lenders, realtors, housing counselors —all stakeholders. It’s going to take all the king’s horses and all the king’s men to put this Humpty-Dumpty back together again.