Dear Colleague,
There are a million things I’d love to write about this month but anything other than what we’ve witnessed in our streets and cities would be tone deaf.
Racial inequality has no place in our society and it needs to be eradicated where ever it exists. And yes, even (perhaps especially) in financial services.
From the beginning of VantageScore, we have had a diversified staff. I am proud of that for a simple reason…diversity enriches all of our lives. Period. It goes to who we are as an organization and who we are individually. It creates and underscores our strengths as human beings.
From the beginning, we also have broken through a rigid system that arbitrarily decided who deserves a credit score and who doesn’t. The first VantageScore model was introduced in 2006 to provide competition in the market, to develop highly accurate credit scoring models, and to reliably score more consumers so that they can equitably gain access to mainstream credit.
In the grand scheme of things, perhaps that seems minor but it’s our role to play. But we all have some role and yours may be more or less impactful than ours. All these missions are important.
Speaking of which, I want to specifically recognize a few of the organizations with whom we partner – these are literally those who are on the front lines. I am so proud of our affiliation and partnerships. In alphabetical order, they are:
- Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA) (NOTE: Be sure to click through to their “5 Questions With” feature where we ask them about the state of Asian American homeownership)
- Consumer Federation of America (CFA)
- National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP)
- National Association of Real Estate Brokers (NAREB)
- National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC)
- National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA)
- The Urban Institute
I encourage you to reach out to these organizations and understand how you can support their important efforts. At unprecedented times like these, collective silence is part of the problem. It’s time for us to use our voices and rise up together.
In doing so, I am confident and hopeful we will emerge from the myriad of crises we are facing a better, stronger and more unified society. Until then, let’s love and listen. And continue to stay healthy and safe, all.
Regards,
Barrett Burns