Working to proactively understand and address the needs of our employees and communities, United has a cross-functional Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Council (DEIC). They advise executive and senior leadership on the Company’s diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy and collaborate with Department Champions to implement and manage programs that accomplish and support these priorities. Department Champions are selected by management based on how their area of expertise and oversight intersects with the current priorities of our DE&I program. Department Champions consider the DEIC’s perspectives and incorporate DE&I into their department’s overall strategy in alignment with United’s broader business goals.
Social
At United, we are committed to nurturing an inclusive culture that is reflective of the communities we serve; celebrates diversity of thought, backgrounds, and experience; promotes respect and a shared purpose; and aligns with our core values of integrity, hard work, teamwork and caring.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Employee Education
All United employees are assigned our DE&I Awareness online modules at the start of their employment. The series covers key concepts such as allyship and how to mitigate bias. Additionally, managers throughout the Company participate in the Cultivating Inclusive Teams workshop, helping our organizational leaders to build upon our inclusive culture and improve team engagement. We also offer optional virtual workshops on implicit bias to any interested employees.
DE&I Employee Liaisons
DE&I Employee Liaisons help United to nurture an inclusive culture, promoting the value of DE&I throughout all corners of the company. These representatives hold a crucial role in ensuring employees can openly discuss thoughts and ideas within United – giving each employee a voice and an avenue to be heard.
Liaisons receive training on facilitating courageous conversations, and then hold open forums with local colleagues related to various DE&I topics.
Quarterly Voice Report
The Director of Human Resources provides executive management and the DE&I Council an internal report each quarter that aggregates qualitative feedback from employees related to DE&I. The Quarterly Voice Report provides a summary of key takeaways, common themes, and areas of opportunity to inform program enhancements.
Internal and External Communications
As part of our ongoing efforts to champion an inclusive workplace, our recurring internal newsletter News About U keeps employees informed about news and events throughout the Company’s footprint. It regularly includes spotlights on a wide range of employee stories and experiences. United also communicates externally to our stakeholders through various channels, including diverse spotlights through social media channels.
Metrics
United's MIS and data science professionals collaborate with Human Resources to take an in-depth, fresh look at the metrics and data we track, how we track the information, and how our DE&I program benchmarks to similar-situated companies. The team developed an internal DE&I dashboard to circulate quarterly to executive management, providing new insights and informing whether the program is effective. Some of their key findings include:
- Over half of all managers are women
- Promotion rates are comparable between men and women
- Promotion rates are comparable between white employees and employees of color
- Hiring rate of diverse employees has been increasing each year since 2018, the same year that we formalized our DE&I commitment by establishing the DE&I Council
- Tenure trends between men and women are comparable, with overall average tenure increasing
United is committed to meaningfully advancing diversity across our footprint and at all levels of the Company. This starts with the Board of Directors. United is proud to exceed the Nasdaq Board Diversity Rule: 20% of United’s Board of Directors are women and 13% are African American. View bios of all United Board members.
Serving Diverse Customers
It is a top priority at United to continuously expand our customer base to reach broader demographics, particularly those who have been historically underserved. Each year United develops a fair lending plan, outlining community outreach activities and traditional marketing mediums to reach diverse customer segments. Similarly, we continuously seek opportunities to enhance digital strategies to reach culturally diverse customers, including running digital ads in Spanish.
Our employees partner with numerous nonprofit organizations that primarily serve culturally diverse clients. Many of these partnerships go beyond volunteering, such as our investment partnerships with community development finance institutions that support minority-owned small businesses.
We recognize the importance of small businesses in our communities. When the global pandemic threatened these businesses and their employees, the Paycheck Protection Program offered hope to keep the doors open and keep people working. United was at the forefront, offering the loan program to nearly 9,000 businesses and was recognized as the No. 2 lender to firms owned by people of color and firms owned by women in the Greater D.C. region for approved loans under $150,000.
Steve Morris, Director of Community Lending at GMM
Through our robust community development lending line of business, we provide commercial loans that create and retain affordable housing. While expanding access to quality, affordable, rental homes is important to solving the housing affordability crisis across the nation, we also understand that expanding homeownership for diverse communities is essential to closing the racial wealth gap.
In 2022, United team members conducted over 100 mortgage-related outreach activities, such as first-time homebuyer workshops to diverse communities. We are committed to providing products, tools, and services to help families achieve this milestone. In addition to conducting homebuyer and credit workshops across our footprint, we offer flexible products and participate in numerous down payment and closing cost assistance programs.
Through United’s affiliate mortgage company, George Mason Mortgage (GMM), we rolled out a down payment and closing cost assistance grant in 2022 of up to $10,000 per family for residents of historically underserved communities. We were able to help 422 homebuyers achieve their dream of homeownership through this program in its first year. Furthermore, last year, over 200 GMM customers benefitted from third-party grants or flexible products through state and local programs that our lenders actively participate in.
GMM’s Welcome Home grant program had the most competitive rate I could find and was alluring because there was no PMI or hidden costs. The process was seamless. My GMM contact, Levonia Wiggins, was awesome! I had tons of questions and read over every single document with an eagle eye, and he was so patient with me. He was knowledgeable and thorough and that meant a lot in this process. I had more money left over to make updates to the home and handle any move-in expenses.
I am no longer throwing away money with renting a home. I have something that will build equity and be the springboard for generational wealth. Being Black and owning a home means a lot. It’s something that felt unattainable at one point, but it is something I felt necessary to secure. Mr. Wiggins helped me make that dream come true!
Don Lucas, Director of Mortgage Sales, United Bank
Our Director of Retail Mortgage Sales also serves as our 2022 Chair of the DE&I Council, a prominent role in the Company that works closely with senior management to drive DEI forward across the institution. GMM has a dedicated Director of Community Lending and continuously works to expand its team of loan officers who are equipped with the networks, outreach strategies, marketing tools, and language skills to best serve diverse borrowers.