Initiative will help lender diversify its pipeline of young talents
Rocket Mortgage is looking to bring in diverse new talent as part of its partnership with HomeFree-USA, a non-profit that aims to close the Black homeownership gap.
The Detroit-based lender said Thursday that it will hire 10% of its future interns from historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). Rocket will continue to work with HomeFree-USA’s flagship education initiative, The Center for Financial Advancement (CFA), to provide financial education and career preparation programs at six HBCUs. The partnership will help Rocket Mortgage to create a diverse pipeline of young talents.
“Partnering with companies like Rocket Mortgage allows us to continue this important work of diversifying talent in corporate America while providing much needed financial literacy to our students at historically Black colleges and universities,” said Marcia Griffin, president and CEO of HomeFree-USA and an alumna of two HBCUs. “Very few mortgage and real estate finance corporations and financial institutions have internship programs that aggressively recruit directly from HBCUs. This must change.”
Read more: More diversity, more success
CFA scholars will receive career, leadership, financial, and life-skills training and attend events at Rocket Mortgage’s campus in Detroit. The firm will also send talent recruiters and company executives to campus to participate in conferences and summits. Financial terms of Rocket’s investment in the program were not disclosed.
After it was first rolled out in 2017 at Fisk University in Nashville, the initiative has expanded to North Carolina A&T State University, Fort Valley State University, Bowie State University, North Carolina Central University, and Morgan State University. The organizations plan to bring the CFA program to more campuses for the 2021 – 2022 academic year.
“This expanded partnership will provide Black and other students of color with financial education programming and training, as well as allow them to access meaningful opportunities to join our organization in whatever role best suits their talents and skillsets,” said Trina Scott, chief diversity officer of Rocket Companies.
The program is part of Rocket’s “6 Point Plan,” a blueprint to address diversity, equity, and inclusion at the company.
