This past week on DS5: Inside the Industry, Michael Ruiz, Director, Supplier Diversity for Fannie Mae discussed a lesser-known area of diversity and inclusion in the mortgage industry—"the peculiar world of supply chain diversity," as he puts it. He also elaborated on an American Mortgage Diversity Council survey on the subject.
"Diversity and inclusion is obviously a topic of great import in the industry ... not enough attention is given to supply chain, in other words, who do we buy goods and services from? And how are those resources flowing into those targeted communities ..."
As for the survey, he says that, while some analysis is still ongoing, he and the researchers are learning more about the importance of suppliers identifying themselves (woman-owned, Black-owned, Latinx-owned business, etc.), some caveats, and what it all means for practitioners.
The full interview is below: