Turquoise Peart (left) and Valenthia Doolin

Mortgage lender Guaranteed Rate has created two new roles to advance its diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

The mortgage lender has hired Valenthia Doolin as community outreach manager and Turquoise Peart as manager of diversity, equity and inclusion.

“These positions will focus on amplifying the company’s goal of further diversifying its workforce and engaging the broadest range of home-buying communities through national partnerships and initiatives,” Guaranteed Rate said in a statement.

Doolin and Peart have significant experience in the housing industry and DEI, Guaranteed Rate said, adding that they will help the company provide borrowers and communities with more education and engagement opportunities.

“Guaranteed Rate is invested in ensuring that our workforce better reflects the diverse communities we serve,” Guaranteed Rate’s National Diverse Segments Director Camilo Escalante said in a statement. “I’m excited that we’re driving change by helping to create a more diverse, equitable and inclusive housing industry, and these two new roles will make a real difference in those efforts.”

As community outreach manager, Doolin will use her community organizing and mortgage experience to build partnerships between Guaranteed Rate and grassroots organizations across the country to promote financial literacy and homeownership awareness in diverse communities. She will lead initiatives to help Guaranteed Rate continue addressing borrower needs, including the development of educational kits to reduce and remove barriers to homeownership for underserved populations.

“People need to know, ‘We see you and we are here to serve your communities,’” Doolin said. “We are closely examining the data to identify how we can best affect real change.”

As manager of diversity, equity and inclusion, Peart will focus on promoting a diverse culture within Guaranteed Rate through its existing employee resource groups, which help the mortgage industry build future minority leaders through recruiting, outreach and training initiatives. She will also work to enhance minority awareness by using community relationships to promote education around financial literacy and homeownership.

“Guaranteed Rate is taking its mission to the next level by unifying our workforce and our communities,” said Peart, who has more than a decade of experience working at the strategic and tactical levels in various sectors including financial services and marketing.