Serving the Underserved

Fannie Mae has released its Environmental, Social, and Governance Report 2022, an annual analysis of the ESG efforts of Fannie Mae’s business and operations with a focus on social impact, sustainability, and responsible governance.

The ESG Report found that in 2022, Fannie Mae acquired mortgages supporting 1.2 million single-family home purchases nationwide, of which nearly half were for first-time homebuyers.

“Housing affects all aspects of society—from where we grow up and live our lives, to the stability of our communities and our financial well-being,” said Fannie Mae CEO Priscilla Almodovar. “Fannie Mae is passionate about serving people across the country, including by knocking down barriers to affordable rental housing and homeownership for historically underserved populations.”

Fannie Mae reported that its financing was used to improve the sustainability of single-family and multifamily properties in 2022, by increasing energy- and water-efficiency, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions through the issuance of $10.5 billion in Green Bonds in 2022.

The GSE also reported that 59,000 more energy- and water-efficient housing units were financed in 2022 through its Green Rewards and Green Building Certification multifamily financing products and mortgages backing Single-Family Green Bonds.

“Our housing mission also drives our environmental actions. Among the credit, market, and other risks we monitor and manage in our business operations, Fannie Mae is actively working to understand our climate risk exposures and promote resiliency strategies to mitigate the impact of climate change for the people whose homes we finance,” said Almodovar. “This helps to protect our company and the housing finance system. Also, our pioneering Green Bond issuances are helping to meet the demand for more efficient and sustainable homes. We are pleased that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Energy awarded Fannie Mae their 2023 ENERGY STAR Sustained Excellence designation for being ‘Partner of the Year’ for nine years running.”

In terms of diversity & inclusion (D&I) efforts in 2022, Fannie Mae notes that nine in 10 employees would recommend Fannie Mae to friends and family as a “Great Place to Work” as of October 2022. Racial or ethnic minorities comprised 58% of Fannie Mae’s workforce as of December 2022, and 28% as office-level employees in 2022, defined as those with job titles that include Fellow, VP, SVP, EVP, President, and CEO. As of December 2022, women comprised 44% of Fannie Mae’s workforce, with 39% of their office-level employees being females (Fellow, VP, SVP, EVP, President, and CEO).

“We recognize that Fannie Mae cannot achieve our housing mission and ESG goals without the strong corporate governance we describe in this report,” added Almodovar. “Our governance structure reinforces the foundation of our enterprise and helps ensure that we achieve our housing mission with safety, soundness, and sustainability. All in all, this report is a tribute to our talented and dedicated colleagues across Fannie Mae who keep driving our business, housing mission, and ESG performance forward. I am proud of their work and inspired by their relentless commitment to America’s housing.”

The report notes that key to Fannie Mae’s mission to close the workforce diversity gap and build an industry that better reflects the diversity of the country, the GSE created its Future Housing Leaders (FHL) program to help create a pipeline of diverse talent and provide experiential and professional development opportunities at a formative time in participants’ early careers. FHL connects college students from historically underrepresented groups to opportunities for paid summer internships and early career opportunities in the housing industry. Fannie Mae, and 86 participating employers enrolled more than 1,000 Future Housing Leaders in 2022 alone.

Furthering the promotion of D&I efforts, Fannie Mae’s Diversity Advisory Council is an advisory working group of officers whose mission is to aid in the successful delivery of the company’s D&I Strategic Plan at the divisional and enterprise levels through the identification of opportunities and corresponding actions. The Diversity Advisory Council assists in monitoring and advising on the progress of the company’s D&I Strategic Plan, and associated practices and initiatives, shares learnings among business areas, and works to disseminate D&I information.

Click here to read Fannie Mae’s Environmental, Social, and Governance Report 2022.