At Freddie Mac, our diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) journey began more than 50 years ago when our company was founded. Our company’s charter document, enacted into law in 1970, makes clear that our mandate is to support communities and people across the U.S. As a result, we have long understood that our people and practices should reflect the country’s diverse housing needs.

When I think about diversity, equity and inclusion at Freddie Mac, it’s both what we do and who we are. DEI is very much in our DNA.

As stewards of the nation’s diverse housing needs, Freddie Mac knows that our DEI efforts must be continuous, actionable and impactful. We are building on our progress and finding ways to do more as a company, reaffirming our longstanding commitment to DEI. Freddie Mac recently enhanced its DEI foundation by launching a new three-year strategic plan to cultivate DEI both within our doors and throughout the housing industry.

We are doing this by focusing on three areas: reflect the people we serve, increase equitable opportunities and build community.

Reflect the People We Are Chartered to Serve

As a company created to support the American housing system, we need a workforce, suppliers and business partners who reflect the diverse community of people we are chartered to serve.

Workplace diversity: Freddie Mac is proud to be a majority-minority company, which means more than 50% of our employees identify as a racial or ethnic minority. Women make up 44% of our workforce. We attract a pipeline of diverse candidates by partnering with Hispanic Serving Organizations, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and other organizations that create career opportunities for underrepresented populations. And we will continue to do more by encouraging diverse representation and ensuring we cultivate an inclusive culture where employees, suppliers and business partners feel welcome to contribute to our mission.

Increase Equitable Opportunities

With a lens on equity, we are continuously examining our business practices to help ensure they provide fair outcomes and reach everyone who touches our business.

Pay equity: Freddie Mac has long committed to equitable pay practices, helping ensure employees are paid similarly for similar work. We regularly conduct pay equity studies and address any significant gaps we find. We stopped asking candidates for their salary history, because that can perpetuate pay gaps. This year, we implemented companywide pay range transparency for all job postings and employees, as another means of ensuring employees are paid fairly for the work they perform.

Doing business with diverse suppliers: In 2022, diverse suppliers accounted for nearly 15% of our total supplier spend. This year, we are maximizing our impact and influence through supplier development and outreach and by further encouraging our primary suppliers to use diverse suppliers as part of our supplier diversity tier two program.

Engage diverse businesses in our financial transactions: Since the late 1990s, Freddie Mac has used diverse firms as underwriters on debt issuance transactions. The role of minority-, women-, and disabled-owned businesses (MWDOBs) has increased over time as we developed various credit risk transfer (CRT) programs, including our STACR, K-Deal and Non-Performing/Re-Performing Loan Sales programs. This year, we are taking those learnings and applying them to the acquisitions/sourcing parts of our Single-Family and Multifamily lines of business, providing training, access and opportunities to better position diverse seller/servicers and lenders for future opportunities with us.

Build Community

At Freddie Mac, building community is at the core of how we embody DEI as a company. This means creating inclusive learning and outreach opportunities that upskill and uplift our workforce, diverse suppliers, partners and local communities. The result is a stronger community of individuals where people feel included, valued and celebrated. We strengthen our community bonds from within the company and out in the community in several ways.

Leveraging Business Resource Groups (BRGs): Our employees define the character of our workplace community. And 44% of the company belongs to at least one BRG — smaller communities or groups that provide people a sense of home while driving business results. We will continue to invest in our BRGs and leverage their value in bringing greater perspective to approaching our strategic plan and how we do business to serve the nation’s diverse housing needs.

Being a good neighbor: Collaborating with our nonprofit partners, we deepen our company’s roots in local communities. It’s a bond that makes Freddie Mac a better neighbor and company. We have increased our impact in the community — in 2022, our employees spent nearly 5,000 hours volunteering. This year we are planning to spend even more time in local communities through year-round volunteer opportunities and launching a new Friends and Family volunteering initiative.

There is Always More We Can Do

I’m often asked for my vision of DEI at Freddie Mac. My thinking is always evolving — it’s a commitment we make to value and respect each other’s differences, include one another and work together. As a united, engaged community of diverse individuals, we’re best positioned to make home possible.

Ultimately, we know we succeed when the organization reflects the people it was chartered to serve, increases equitable opportunities and builds community. We have made strides, and there is more to do. We are on this journey together — and we are better, together.

©2024 by Freddie Mac.