Checking in on DEI programs in mortgage hiring

A little more than one year after enrolling its first class to bring diversity, equity and inclusion to the operations side of the mortgage business, leaders at Axis Lending Academy realized it needed to branch out. 

"We created what we call blueprint programs," said Paul Gigliotti, its chief operating officer. "[Those] were designed to continue bridging education in DEI in the industry, but from a more of a detailed place for our partners."

Axis is reaching out to those lenders and other companies, to help support growth in their organization by providing education.

It is "a true blueprint, because not only were we educating individuals on the industry as a whole but we're also training them on functions within the organization," Gigliotti declared. "That was one movement that we made as an organization and it provided a little bit of support with getting our name out there as a startup."

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But it is now in the process of also expanding its academy by branching into other areas of the transaction. First, in a few months, it will be bringing out its title academy, sponsored by underwriter CATIC Title.

"We're really excited to be able to take the same platform, the same secret sauce and apply it to kind of a different business general within our industry," Gigliotti said.

It is lining up the first group of seven to 10 participants, starting small, much the same way it did for its initial academy.

"Besides that, we also just wrapped up the foundation for our mortgage originator academy, and we're looking to launch that right at the beginning of the new year," Gigliotti said. "This truly supports, not only bridging the gap of DEI and education in the housing industry, but it's going to create accessibility to underserved communities."

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These groups have the ability to buy a home, but are not in the market. When figuring out why, Gigliotti said "it stems back to lack of accessibility, lack of trust, lack of understanding.

"So our philosophy at Axis is if we can find individuals that have the desire, aptitude and skill set to be a salesperson, to be an originator, who are part of those communities, let's put them into Axis," he continued.

As a diverse individual himself, when looking at service providers, "I always felt much more comfortable with individuals that I knew were open to my lifestyle, two men who are married and love each other and have children," Gigliotti said.

That translates to other communities who want to purchase a home, "it's bridging accessibility with someone that they can relate to," he said.

He compared it to someone going to college for an engineering degree and having multiple options to decide what to do career-wise.

For the new title academy "the education that we provide, it's long and deep," Gigliotti said. "We provide education A to Z on the title industry, and then we provide that lab module and then we provide the internship module," through the companies it partners with.

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Axis' purpose is to bridge the education gap and provide the ability and empowerment to be able to reach for what it is that someone wants to do as an individual in the business.

"But I think that we are at the forefront of a movement that's very much needed," Gigliotti said. "Not only for the next consumer or home buyer for their sake, but also for the sake of the next generation of employees."

Backflip is a business purpose lender focusing on the fix and flip market. Recently the company noted that 53% of its loans were made to people of color, 27% of its borrowers were women and 64% of its business was located in zip codes where the average income was below the state median.

It is first and foremost a technology company, and the lending product is a way to monetize that, explained Jake Rome, co-founder and chief operating officer.

Backflip uses the terms members for its clients. Those members are able to access the company's services through a phone app. Much of the initial interaction in the application phase for a loan is done through the technology, which makes it agnostic in terms of demographics, said Rome.

"A computer doesn't necessarily look like anybody, but it's also not going to treat anybody differently right than anyone else," said Rome.

While it has less interaction between client and loan officer than a more traditional mortgage transaction, the nature of fix and flip lending requires plenty of contact with the back office. And it looks to create a diverse employee base.

"The primary weapon that we have for that is we are a fully distributed remote company from day one, by design," said Rome. "So when we go to hire for a salesperson or a processor or anybody, there's no geographic boundaries to where we can recruit from."

It looks to hire people who have been or aspire to be real estate investors.

This lets it recruit a more diverse staff; right now it is a small company at 36 employees. Backflip incorporated in the fourth quarter of 2020 and did its first origination in July 2021.

While it was at first looking to work with institutional investors it pivoted when Backflip management realized they didn't want to help Wall Street be landlords.

"It's like let's help educate this community of boots on the ground operators and help them rejuvenate homes where they live," Rome said.

For example, borrowers include children of immigrants that are doing their first flip, seeing it as an opportunity to build wealth, something Rome admits to getting emotional about.

"It's our processors, our salespeople, everyone gets to interact with someone who's going through such a powerful moment in their lives," said Rome. It's a positive moment that is really energized."