Having been selected as the Mortgage
Bankers Association (MBA) 2024 chairman, Union Home Mortgage President and
founder of Amerifirst Home Mortgage Mark Jones shared his top priority for the
organization during its 2023 convention and exposition in Philadelphia.
Jones, who previously chaired MBA’s
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Advisory Committee, said his top priority
for MBA under his leadership will be making affordable homeownership a national
priority again.
“As a nation, we built homes
for returning veterans, expanded access to affordable loans, and made it easier
than ever for qualified families to achieve their own American Dream. Why? Because
our leaders recognized that homeownership is the foundation of wealth creation
and financial freedom in America,” Jones said. “The results were incredible.
Our economy grew by leaps and bounds. Our communities thrived like never
before. Generations of Americans honestly believed that we’d always have better
days ahead – built on a foundation of homeownership.”
Optimism about the prospect of
homeownership being an avenue for building generational wealth and realizing
the American Dream is fading, Jones explained, because homeownership has become
more difficult to attain.
“For millions of families, the
dream of owning a home is just that – a dream that it seems will never see the
light of day. In the current crisis environment, this hope for a home has
fallen even further,” he said. “My friends, it’s time to flip the script. It’s
time to make the American Dream accessible for all. And I believe that MBA is
uniquely suited to renew this national priority.”
He pointed to data indicating
that families of color typically begin their homeownership journey a full
decade behind similarly situated Caucasian families.
To help address this issue,
Jones said he is “doubling down” on the efforts of MBA’s DEI Advisory Committee
under the leadership of Susan Stewart, Kristy Fercho and Matt Rocco.
“As the former chair of MBA’s
DEI Advisory Committee, I’ll build on the groundbreaking efforts they launched
with one of my own. We’re calling it the Equitable Homeownership Initiative,”
Jones said. “This initiative addresses a very real problem. Right now, too many
young Americans don’t get real financial education. In their formative years,
they don’t learn the tips and tricks to achieving financial freedom and social
mobility – homeownership chief among them.”
As part of the initiative,
Jones aspires to see MBA work with schools in developing new tools and
resources to help children learn about financial literacy. He described how
Amerifirst once purchased every fourth-grade student in the Detroit Public
Schools a copy of a book written by a real estate broker from his hometown
called “Princess Mackie Buys a House,” in which a young African American girl
learns lessons about goal-setting goals and saving money as she works toward
buying that castle.
Jones said the initiative was a hit with students and
parents, making him believe a similar initiative could work nationwide.