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The American Mortgage Diversity Council (AMDC) held a webinar Thursday in partnership with Fannie Mae to discuss its future housing leaders program.
The webinar was led by Marcus Cole, Director of the Future Housing Leaders Program, Office of Minority Women and Inclusion.
Cole said the program helps college students obtain paid internship or entry-level jobs with companies in the housing industry committed to diversity and inclusion. It also provides students with access to opportunities in the housing industry, as well as finance, investment, development and construction sales, and marketing.
He also noted that the Future Housing Leader produced 95 interns—a 120% increase from 2018—representing 48 different colleges across the U.S.
One-third of all interns identified as a minority and 34% of interns were female.
Additionally, all of the employer partners who took last year’s survey said they would recommend Future Housing Leaders to other companies in the industry. Eighty-five percent of interns surveyed said they are likely to pursue a career in housing based on their internship experience.
Ten interns from summer 2019 have accepted full-time jobs or a second-year internship within the industry.
The subject of diversity and inclusion within the industry has garnered increased attention over the past few years, and the House Financial Services Committee held a meeting Wednesday on the diversity and inclusion among the nation’s 44 largest banks.
Chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee Maxine Waters (D-California) called Wednesday’s hearing “historic and groundbreaking.”
The 44 banks who submitted data have more than $50 billion assets, and Waters said the information provided is essential to the industry.
“The information they have provided is illuminating and is something that the American public deserves to see,” she said.
The report found that banking institutions were 58% white in 2018, which was lower than the national average of 63%. African-Americans made up 12% of the workforce populations of financial institutions, Hispanics accounted for 11%, and the Asian population was 12%.
The Hispanic workforce in American averaged 16% and Asians accounted for 6%.
