Arrive Home President Tai Christensen Named Chair of California MBA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee

Christensen to help lead California Mortgage Bankers Association’s Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Initiatives

The California Mortgage Bankers Association has named Tai Christensen, President of national affordable housing program Arrive Home, Chair of its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee. Christensen will share the role with Stephanie Whittenberg, who is Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Together, Christensen and Whittenberg will assist the association with its effort to promote diversity and inclusion within the mortgage lending space, a priority for the organization since it first launched its DE&I Committee in 2021.

“I am excited to continue to assist the CMBA’s efforts to promote diversity in the mortgage industry,” Christensen said. “This is an initiative that has been important to me since I began my career in this space more than 20 years ago. As someone who has dedicated much of their career to helping bridge the homeownership gap in underserved communities, I am eager to initiate more conversations about how industry leaders can effectuate this much-needed change and help advance the future of this profession.”

Christensen has long been a vocal advocate for the need to encourage a more diverse pool of talent to pursue careers in mortgage, citing powerful statistics that point to the fact that greater diversity within the profession can help more people of color obtain a home loan. She is also a board member for AXIS 360 Lift, a nonprofit that educates and empowers individuals looking to begin a career in mortgage, and is Advisory Chair of the American Mortgage Diversity Council. Christensen is the current host of the California MBA’s monthly DE&I podcast, which is available on the California MBA’s YouTube channel and features industry thought leaders who are actively working to promote DE&I within mortgage lending.

“I am looking forward to working with Tai to advance the California MBA’s DE&I efforts,” said Whittenberg. “She has a powerful voice within the mortgage community, and I am certain that, together, we can effectively bring this important cause to the forefront of industry conversation.”

About Arrive Home

Arrive Home is a national affordable housing program and innovator in the mortgage space that offers down payment assistance and alternative credit solutions for all responsible borrowers, especially those in underserved communities. Arrive Home is dedicated to increasing minority homeownership by working with governmental entities, mortgage lenders and nonprofit groups to offer innovative and diverse mortgage products that are designed to enable correspondent lenders to confidently deliver loans to reliable borrowers who qualify under FHA guidelines. In doing so, Arrive Home aims to break down the barriers to homeownership in minority communities, making generational change, one home at a time.

About California Mortgage Bankers Association

The California MBA is the only statewide association solely dedicated to representing the real estate finance industry in California by providing on-the-ground advocacy in the State Legislature, and before government agencies and regulators. The California MBA also hosts numerous educational conferences, webinars, and programs to keep you up to date on the latest information and analysis. Additionally, they provide their members and the industry with valuable networking opportunities to help you find new business opportunities.

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