New American Funding - Woman of the Year

Company: New American Funding, Tustin, CA
Company Description: New American Funding is a mortgage banker, licensed in 48 states across the nation, that funds over $900 million in home loans every month and maintains a servicing profile of over $23 billion. Our company offers a full spectrum of loan products and we have won numerous awards for our industry leadership and efforts in diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Woman of the Year - Consumer Services

Nomination Title: Patty Arvielo

Industry influencer and innovator. Savvy business leader. Popular keynote speaker. Esteemed board member. Agent of change and empowerment for women and minorities. Patty Arvielo is all these roles and more. She continues to build her remarkable legacy by defining what it means to be an elite woman in business.

The award-winning Co-Founder and President of New American Funding is a first-generation Hispanic who leveraged her successful career in mortgage to succeed at the highest level—from learning the business from the ground up to shattering its highest ceiling. Today, she leads the sales and operations efforts for New American Funding, one of the nation’s top mortgage companies.

As President, Patty manages operations and sales for the company, while overseeing 186 locations and about 4,900+ employees nationwide.

Despite the pandemic, the company has thrived under her leadership. In Feb. 2020, she was one of the chief architects in transitioning the company’s then staff of 3,300 employees to a work-from-home environment.

Her transparency was key to the company’s seamless adjustment to this virtual environment. Patty herself answered employees’ questions directly in live-stream sessions and ramped up efforts to create informative videos showing employees balancing their new life and career adjustment. The company even replicated its fun, on-site experience by offering various contests for employees and their families for art, singing, and even a dancing challenge—all with prizes.

The result was a record-breaking year of funding 101,726 loans for $29.7 billion. The company doubled its volume from 2019 to 2020 and hired 2,7776 team members—increasing its staff size by 35%!

The company’s “secret sauce” continues to be Patty’s appeal to a diverse and inclusive workforce. Under her guidance, the company recruits from a diverse talent pool that celebrates employees’ differences in age, color, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical ability, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other unique characteristics. As a result, the company has one of the most diverse workforces in the entire country.

Patty continues to advocate for women and minorities to inspire them to seek their highest level of personal and professional growth. These groups are significantly represented in her company—especially in key leadership positions.

To foster and advance employee growth, Patty leads two hands-on mentorships in which she personally provides career guidance to employees. Her “Thrive and Lead” and “If You Want to Grow, We Want to Know” programs welcome a diverse talent base with a variety of opportunities for career growth and potential advancement.

Patty also champions underserved communities in the housing sector. By advocating for her own Spanish-speaking market, Patty continues to find ways to educate Hispanics about home buying and mortgage. To this end, she leads the company’s Latino Focus committee, launched in 2013, which educates the housing community about how to better serve the Hispanic community during the home buying process.

In addition, Patty is deeply involved with her company’s New American Dream initiative, which was started in 2016 to raise awareness and increase homeownership in Black communities. Through this program, she empowers her employees to help many Black families realize their dream of owning a home.

Patty’s influence extends beyond the company to numerous industry committees, including the Leadership Council at Harvard Kennedy School’s Center for Public Leadership, the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Residential Board of Governors, Century Communities Board of Directors, Latino Donor Collaborative Board, MBA Affordable Homeownership Advisory Council, and the Housing Counseling Federal Advisory Committee.

In the community, Patty currently serves on the National Park Foundation Board of Directors where she is instrumental with the LatinX Project to symbolize the Latino culture in America throughout the parks. She is also a member of the Executive Board of Big Brothers and Sisters Orange County.

Patty continues to lobby on behalf of the industry and homeowners for the current and future states of mortgage.

-Led massive expansion of branches and call centers, bringing the total to 186 nationwide locations with 4,900+ employees as of March 2021.

-Presided over record-breaking 2020 year with the company’s servicing portfolio reaching a record high of 170,000+ loans and $43.4 billion (which has since risen to 181,000+ loans for $46.7 billion as of March 2021)

-Met record borrowers’ demand for historical low rates with bold recruitment of 2,767 new employees in 2020, including new opportunities for women, minorities, and Millennials who make up 60%, 46% and 38%, respectively, of the company’s employees as of March 2021

-Led efforts to put her company ahead of the industry in lending to Hispanics by 76%. (19% of the company’s home purchase loan volume is to Hispanic borrowers with the industry average being 8.5% based on 2019 HMDA data.)

-Directed a strategic initiative that resulted in elevating the company ahead of the industry in lending to Black borrowers by 69%. (11.5% of the company’s home purchase loan volume is to Black borrowers with the industry average being 5.6% based on 2019 HMDA data.)

-Created and fostered an inclusive environment, where women, minorities and Millennials excel on merit, which was recognized by FORTUNE and Great Place to Work® as a Best Workplace in Financial Services & Insurance, aBest Workplace for Women, and aBest Workplace for Millennials

-Launched “The Listening Circle,” a growing group of hundreds of employees who openly discuss their thoughts on current events, humanitarian issues, and strategies for meaningful change within her company

-Her New American Dream initiative presented three unique digital events, “Bridging the Gap in Black Homeownership,” “No Better Time for Black Home Ownership,” and “The Past Present and Future of Black Homeownership” where experts openly discussed strategies and techniques to increase Black Homeownership

-Addressed the Mortgage Bankers Association conference in October 2019 as role model for women and minorities striving to advance their careers

-Spoke at the Harvard Kennedy School on the ever-changing Latino perspective in October 2019