TheMReport — News and strategies for the evolving mortgage marketplace.
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30 | TH E M R EP O RT Kathy Cummings Kathy Cummings SVP of Homeownership Solutions and Affordable Housing Programs // Bank of America Kathy Cummings, SVP of Consumer Education and Consulting Executive at Bank of America is a seasoned veteran of the mortgage finance industry with over 30 years' experience on both the business and technology sides of the industry. Before landing at Bank of America, she worked at Prudential Home Mortgage in Risk Management Analytics, Wells Fargo in risk management and as the Director of Fraud Management, and JPMorgan Chase as VP of Information Management and Application Development Manager—all of which provided invaluable experiences to pave the way to where she is today. During her 13-year tenure at Bank of America she's held the titles of SVP, Senior Service Delivery Manager and SVP, CRE 1st Mortgage National Pricing Manager, along with her current title. She's a woman with many responsibilities that span the affordable lending space, including working with Department of Housing and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agencies across the country. She strives to deliver pre purchase homebuyer education to everyone and anyone who has the thirst for knowledge. As if that wasn't enough, she's also responsible for the oversight of a team that is charged with reviewing and approving thousands of affordable programs across the country for down payment assistance, closing grants, and mortgage credit certificates. Cummings will do whatever she can to ensure that homeownership is affordable. Having earned a computer science degree from the University of Missouri at Saint Louis, Cummings sees many parallels between the technology industry and the mortgage finance industry—both are primarily male-dominated spaces, and in both industries women can't have thin skin. And in both industries, she sees it as imperative that women maintain their values while doing whatever they can to learn as much as they can. When reflecting on the mortgage finance industry, she recognizes that an inclusive leadership is paramount, but she can't help but feel that women sometimes have the tendency to be their own worst enemies. She has a hard time understanding why women don't support each other—encourage, promote, and cheer each other on. "I surprised my new manager by telling him one of my favorite TV shows is American Ninja Warrior, because I love the competition. But more, I love that after they are done competing, the women stand on the sideline and cheer each other on and inspire each other to do better. And that's how I think we should be, as an organization and as women."