HousingWireHousingWire
New American Funding (NAF) announced that it’s expanding its Housing Advocate Certification (HAC) program to real estate professionals nationwide.
Originally developed and launched internally through its NAF Black Impact initiative, the HAC program has trained more than 1,000 company employees, NAF said. Now the mortgage lender is inviting external real estate agents and brokerages to take advantage of the program.
Mosi Gatling, NAF’s senior vice president of strategic growth and expansion, will be leading the program alongside Shanta Patton-Golar, the company’s marketing manager. Gatling said the HAC program was based on observing an “immediate need” for support among the Black community and aspiring Black homeowners.
“There are statistics still showing loans for Black borrowers have higher decline rates. So we needed to do something different, maybe be a little bit provocative in the way we approach this, modernize that approach,” Gatling said in an interview with HousingWire.
“And we thought, why not develop a certification for those who really want to be out there for the community, but ensure that they also have the support on the back end, so we can be a better place for those loans to be done?”
Gatling said anyone can participate in the certification, noting that the cost “should be less than $100 by the time the program debuts.” That will take place during a live webinar on June 4 at 10 a.m. PT. More details about the program will be offered at that time.
“We’ve tailored [the program] to different areas of the business internally,” Gatling explained. We did it for loan officers. We’ve done it for our entire marketing department internally here at NAF. We’ve done it for HR, processors, underwriters, our recruiters, because you’ve got to understand the community that you’re going to serve if you’re going to excel and be great at it.”
The HAC program provides education and training to help participants understand the history and barriers to Black homeownership. Gatling said the program includes tailored marketing materials to attract diverse clientele, as well as professional development opportunities.
“Whether you’re a mortgage practitioner or real estate practitioner, this is heavy on marketing and showing up in the community so you can be a force,” she said. “Everybody wants to do good. But I think when we talk about housing in diverse communities, we never talk about how you can do that and do it well.
“How do you close more business by connecting with people, executing that marketing with the audience, because you understand where they come from, what they need, and where they’re at right now in 2025? And there are a lot of people that don’t know how to resonate with people.”
The program will also dive into the psychological factors behind Black homeownership.
“For years, ever since fair housing started, everybody always teaches about bias and some of the negative things that happened in housing history, but they don’t get too much into the psychological impact on Black families, right?,” she said. “We go through that housing history to understand the psychology of the diverse buyer so we can be better professionals.
“This program is for real estate professionals who want to get closer to the communities they serve — not to just check a DEI box,” Gatling added. “The goal is to modernize fair housing from the street level and to change how we think about access, advocacy and opportunity in real estate.”
