Originally published at usbank.com. U.S. Bank ranked No. 17 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2022.
Tracy Egerson saw a pattern emerge when she and some of her fellow U.S. Bank colleagues recently represented the bank’s mortgage business at an event in Milwaukee focused on advancing Black homeownership.
“I was at the table with three colleagues and noticed that as people approached us, it was always me that they asked questions,” Egerson said. “I think there’s a safe and familiar feeling in seeing someone that looks like them, and that’s why they approached me.”
That safe and familiar feeling is one reason U.S. Bank has a focus on increasing Black representation in mortgage loan officers as part of its Access Home initiative, which is designed to increase Black homeownership through key pillars that also include partnering with nonprofit organizations and providing financial education and community outreach programs.
Egerson is one of 12 employees across the country who are part of the bank’s first-ever training and development program designed to deliver on Access Home’s commitment to creating future mortgage leaders who represent all the communities the bank serves, starting with Black consumers. Mortgage experience wasn’t required to participate.
“It’s a yearlong program for the cohort,” said Egerson, who joined U.S. Bank in September to take part in the program. “I have a mentor who I shadow and we’re doing a lot of intensive training. We’re on month five now and it’s going well.”
The program’s concentration on increasing homeownership among people of color was a big draw for Egerson, who has been in banking since 1990.
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