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TH E M R EP O RT | 13 READ THIS RESET: MY FIGHT FOR INCLUSION AND LASTING CHANGE By Ellen Pao Named "the face of change" by Time, Ellen Pao takes her readers inside the gender discrimination case that thrust her into the media spotlight—Ellen Pao v. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers LLC— in Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Change. "If you get an opportunity that someone offers you, take it. A business school professor of mine told me this 20 years ago, and it's just as relevant today. There are so many times that being a woman of color counts against you. If it ever gives you an advantage, don't feel guilty about it. Those situations are few and far between, and you should just consider each an opportunity," Pao shares in her memoir. SHARE THIS BUY UP INDEX Created by long-term entrepreneur Amy-Willard Cross, Buy Up Index is an app that makes it easy to find and support both women-owned businesses and businesses that score high for their reputation on gender equality. With an easy-to-use interface, quickly search by industry or product type to make your support for inclusiveness known through your spending power. If you want to take your advocacy a step further, the app also makes it straightforward to contact businesses that score low on the ranking, to let them know why you will no longer support them. WATCH THIS 20 INSPIRING TED TALKS EVERY WOMAN SHOULD WATCH Compiled by Grazia and available on YouTube Whether you are looking for a quick power-up during your lunch hour, or want to have an empowerment marathon, Grazia magazine has pulled together a powerful selection of TED talks geared toward the advancement of women. From "Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are" by Amy Cuddy or "Why We Have Too Few Women Leaders" by Sheryl Sandberg, there's something for everyone in this witty, colorful collection. TWEET THIS @ROSABETHKANTER Named as one of the "25 Smartest Women on Twitter" by Fast Company, Rosabeth Moss Kanter is a Harvard Business School Professor who chairs Harvard Advanced leadership and has written books such as Confidence, Change Masters, Move, and Men & Women of the Corporation. Kanter's Twitter page is dedicated to management strategies, leadership techniques, and ways to advance in business. With nearly 70,000 followers, Kanter is blazing a trail for fellow female professionals to emulate. These reviews are also a feedback loop for us. If we see the same negative trend, then we're not communicating enough because of which our requests are misinter- preted. That results with us making changes to the policy to provide more clarity or change something in it because it's not easy to implement. As much as we try to make sure that we do that before we put out a policy, our file reviews show us areas where something isn't working the way it should. I cannot underestimate or un - derstate the importance of having great associates and relationship managers who work day-in and day-out with their servicer clients to understand their business. Not THE business, their business. As we're thinking about mak- ing changes, either to a policy, technology, or process, we have people who have that voice of the customer inside Freddie Mac and they make sure that we have the right and correct line of sight into the end impact of what we're working on for them. Additionally, our advisory boards preview changes we're looking to make and give feedback from our servicers to say what may not work the way that we think it should. Our goal at Freddie Mac is to make sure that we understand what those changes are going to be and not react to them but respond to them before they happen. M // How can financial services law firms partner with Freddie Mac for the overall betterment of the industry? GILMORE // In 2013, we stopped our Designated Counsel Program and today we work with law firms through tri-party agreements between them, our servicers, and us. We interact with them daily on litigative matters, conflicts, and issues they see at the state and fed - eral level that are causing friction in the process. Through this informa- tion, we're able to work with our counterparts for a response. We also work with them to make sure that we're correctly interpreting what they're giving us and they're letting us know if there are any trends we're see - ing. That is really how we work together so effectively. M // As industry veteran, what would be your advice to someone who is just joining the mortgage industry? GILMORE // I would advise them that the goals of servicing a loan are fairly straightforward, but the implementation of those goals is a complex process. So make sure that you're networking with your industry peers; getting out to important conferences; make sure that you are engaged and involved in getting trained on what it takes, not just for your narrow focus area but broadly across the servicing space; and make sure that you understand what's going on from a soup to nuts perspec - tive. There are a lot of great jobs in the servicing industry and the key is to know them, know your peers, and get out there and help borrowers. TAKE 5 FROM THE SOURCE "The more cash sensitive your customer is, the more incumbent it is upon you to make their job as cost effective as possible, so they can focus on managing the borrower experience and controlling delinquencies." —Yvette Gilmore, VP, Servicer Relationship & Performance Management, Freddie Mac