VIDEO: Access to Capital – From Micro to Billions

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Women entrepreneurs have notoriously faced hardships in gaining access to capital, from lack of information and resources and local and state government assistance, to facing cultural biases from investors. Without adequate capital, women cannot make their creative ideas a reality, nor can they afford to maintain the businesses that provide jobs for a significant portion of the population. According to U.S. Census Bureau data, women own 36 percent of privately-held businesses and contribute $3 trillion to the economy due to job creation—creating 16 percent of jobs in the nation.

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VIDEO: Experts on the Social Impact of Data Analytics, Recession & Climate Change

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Industry experts were worried about a possible recession even before the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, and these discussions took place during the 2019 NAWRB Conference. Watch the newly released video featuring Moderator Desiree Patno, CEO & President of NAWRB, Advisor of Amicus Brain, Chairman of NDILC; and CSO of Zulu Time; Marina B. Walsh, Vice President of Industry Analytics, Research and Economics, at Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA); and Brian De Lucia, Managing Partner at Arrivato LLC, as they discuss how industries in the housing and real estate ecosystem can achieve social impact through data analytics, and other factors that could have contributed to today’s recession. 

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Inside Look at the Marketing Science Behind the Entertainment Industry

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Now that we are spending a lot of time at home, streaming services such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, and Disney+ are being used more than ever. Did you ever wonder about the data science that influences marketing in the entertainment industry, such as how networks know what kinds of shows you will like or won’t?  In a presentation titled “Marketing Science in Entertainment: A Machine Learning Approach,” Brett DanaherAssistant Professor of Economic and Management Science at Chapman University, gave an informative introduction to marketing science as it pertains to his work, and its potential uses for the housing and real estate ecosystem. Dr. Danaher publishes research in data science and entertainment strategy and consults for large entertainment firms such as NBC Universal, Disney, Spotify, EMI Music, Harper Collins, BBC Studios and Masterclass. Watch the video at the link!

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WHER Chat: Can Healthcare Meet the Needs of the Growing Aging Population?

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The aging population is an often neglected but significant portion of our society that will become dependent on younger generations for their physical, mental and financial wellbeing. In this panel from the 2019 NAWRB Conference, experts from different industries will discuss the aging population, including, Dr. Chitra Dorai, Founder & CEO, Amicus Brain Innovations, Inc.; Terry Bayer, Director of the  California Water Service Group; John Figueroa, CEO & Managing Partner of Bailey Cavan Capital LLC, Former CEO & Board member of Genoa Healthcare, and Former CEO but current Chairman of Apria Healthcare Group Inc.; and Dr. Debra Cherry, Executive Vice President of Alzheimer’s Greater Los Angeles and Clinical Psychologist. 

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WHER Chat: Emergency Declaration for Commercial Vehicles Delivering Coronavirus Relief

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On March 13th, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) issued a national emergency declaration, which supersedes an 83-year-old preexisting ruling,  to provide hours-of-service regulatory relief to commercial vehicle providing direct assistance supporting emergency relief efforts intended to meet immediate needs, such as supplying medical supplies and equipment for COVID-19 testing and medical workers; food for emergency restocking of store; as well as equipment for temporary housing and quarantine facilities. For more information on the emergency declaration, click here

Watch the video from the “Government Panel” during the 2019 NAWRB Conference, which featured government officials who discussed the importance of a recent proposed rulemaking made by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) last year that revised its Hours of Service of Drivers (HOS) rules for commercial truck drivers to improve the supply chain, safety of commercial truck drivers and livestock. Watch the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmwJyTtt-60

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2018 NAWRB Conference Exclusive Testimonials

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As NAWRB looks forward to celebrating a decade as an organization, we are reminiscing about this year’s 2018 NAWRB 5th Annual Conference, “Year of Women,” which featured impeccable discussions, presentations and connections at a historical gathering of thought leaders and industry experts from across the housing ecosystem. This event showed that the industry can achieve great things for women’s economic growth and diversity and inclusion when men and women professionals and related industries work together, share each other’s resources and knowledge, and support each other’s successes as teammates instead of competitors. In case you missed it, read below from our incredible speakers and attendees as they describe their unique experiences and the benefits they received from being a part of this dynamic movement for gender equality.

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NAWRB Interview: NDILC Member Sarah Goldfrank and Alicia Jones, Media and External Communications, Fannie Mae

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About Fannie Mae

NAWRB: What’s a favorite aspect of your current position? And what are some of the unique challenges you might face in it?

Sarah Goldfrank (SG): I would have to say my favorite part of my current position is being a part of Fannie Mae and our mission because it is such an incredible mission to be an integral part [of]. In essence, we are at the center of the housing market which is at the center of the U.S. economy, and it’s so meaningful to millions of people across this country, what we deliver everyday, and we are an incredibly mission-driven company. Every year our employee engagement shows that, and I am absolutely one of those people where the mission gets me up everyday and makes me excited about the work that I do.

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NAWRB Conference Interview with Alicia Townsend, U.S. Bank

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NAWRB: What are you responsible for, in your own words?

I’m Vice President for the great state of Ohio. This is my first opportunity to engage and I’m loving it—that’s the conversation we’re just having. It’s nice for us, as bankers, to be engaged at this level and be able to go where the customer is or where the partner is to make things happen.

My primary responsibility is to ensure that the markets we cover meet our Community Reinvestment Act performance measures. That is service: Are we in the community? Are we serving on nonprofit boards? What’s our branch distribution look like, especially around low-to-moderate income communities? Are we making loans? Are we making loans to low-to-moderate income people, or are we making loans in low-to-moderate income communities? We have service, lending and investments.

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NAWRB Conference Interview with Susan Fries

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Susan Fries: My name is Susan Fries, and I am the President and Owner of Ecola Termite and Pest Management Services. We are the alternative treatment methods that can take care of a situation and do it in a healthier way. So, what we mean by that is we use Mother Nature to take care of the problem. We’ve been doing it a long, long time. We were green before it was nothing more than a color. The reason I do that is because I had a chronic asthmatic (still do)—36-year-old now— son, who had almost died a couple of times.

When I got in the business 38 years ago, I was looking for another way to get rid of the problem. Pests and termites are going to be around forever, especially in California. I was in the industry, I was working with my husband and we were doing traditional methods—fumigation, chemical application— and I had this son. He almost died a couple of times, and I’m thinking “Gosh, if I can come up with a way to take care of this problem and do it healthier, naturally, environmentally more friendly, then I’ve got to search that out.” And so, I did. I found a company that was doing some of it and I decided it was a good thing for me to look into it more, and it ended up that I bought that company. It’s kind of like the Gillette razor commercial where: “I like the Gillette razor, so I bought the company.” It was kind of like that.

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NAWRB Conference Interview with Victor Christiansen, FDIC, OMWI

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NAWRB: For those who might not know, describe what you do.

I work in the Office of Women and Minority Inclusion and I’m a branch chief. The branch is called Minority and Women in Business Diversity Inclusion branch.

NAWRB: Where did your career begin?

I started in the general accounting office which is now the Government Accountability Office, the GAO, and I worked at the Department of the Interior for many years. Then, in 2012, I came to the FDIC.

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