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Women With Vision Magazine
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2022 WWV Award Winners
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“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
- Nora Ephron
Mikinzi Ferran’s vision for the future of women in the industry goes beyond being at the top of the leaderboard. She envisions women finding their You-Shaped mold, the one only each individual woman can fill. She envisions women who strive to become leaders without having to first overcome a view of themselves at a disadvantage in the industry.
To be a great leader, one must step into the role of influencing, connecting, serving, and offering hope to people. As women, we need to turn off the autopilot of grinding and show our capability to succeed through our connections.
Mikinzi exhibits a powerful skillset, one which only expands as she follows her desire to continuously improve. Coupled with an open-mind approach to learning new skills, these traits have both served her well and keep her firmly on the path to a brighter future in the mortgage industry or in anything Mikinzi puts her mind to!
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"There's power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice."
- Michelle Obama
Learn more about Dianna...
Dianna is passionate about empowering others to attain their dreams. As a recruiter who has assisted in hiring and mentoring hundreds of new loan officers, Dianna works tirelessly to bring her vision to life while teaching and mentoring the next generation of mortgage professionals.
Dianna is a loyal and caring loan officer. She prides herself on assisting as many families as possible own a home, especially when other lenders have turned them down. She also advocates for equality inside the industry (loan officers) and outside the industry (clients) for minorities and women.
During her combined 18 years in the industry, 14 in real estate and four as a mortgage broker, Dianna has received many accolades. She has been recognized multiple times as a Top one percent Certified UWM Partner. Her profile was featured in JEZEBEL's 2023 Influential Insiders Edition and named the Best of Atlanta in the Jezebel Magazine, as well as Best in the City in The Atlantan Magazine. In 2021, she was honored as a Top five percent with NEXA Mortgage and a 20/20 Women With Vision Award Winner.
"Leaders come in many forms, with many styles and diverse qualities. There are quiet leaders and leaders one can hear in the next county. Some find strength in eloquence, some in judgment, some in courage.”
-John W. Gardner
Nicole is a forward-thinking team player. One would never guess Nicole’s tenure in the industry is brief. She is ever-ready to tackle any project or challenge and does it enthusiastically.
Nicole’s personality and sense of humor blended with her delegation and organizational skills to keep tasks running smoothly comprise a powerful balance of leadership skills. She is a delight and fun to work with. As the director of student engagement, her role is both being in the background doing administrative work and front and center working with clients. Both are important work because with for the doers, the success of any company does not happen.
Nicole’s vision is to see the coaching students succeed. She makes it possible for students and coaches to stay on top of what's next, have the information to be their best, and be encouraged to recognize they need to make it happen.
“Never underestimate the power of a small group of committed people to change the world. In fact, it is the only thing that ever has.”
- Margaret Mead
Learn more about Tawn...
Tawn is a true inspiration to those who navigate the ever-changing mortgage and housing environment. She displays many behaviors indicative of a true leader. Her emphasis on connection, collaboration, inclusion, and interaction remains front and center, even though our workforce is predominately remote.
Tawn regularly challenges the status quo, pushing her leaders to think differently, innovate and shift to ensure best-in-class business practices and an unparalleled customer experience. Tawn’s mission is to revolutionize the lending process by leading our customers to their new front door with 21st-century technology without losing the personal-touch experience for customers.
Tawn’s progressive career journey started over 35 years ago and has taken her from entry-level roles through entrepreneurial success to now leading from the C-Suite at one of the largest public home builders in the United States. Tawn’s longevity in the mortgage industry has earned her many awards, and she serves on several industry boards and committees.
Tawn has always believed that finance sells homes. Using her voice and years of experience, she thinks outside the box and develops ways to allow others to recognize and understand how valuable finance is to the buying decision. Tawn continues to encourage and advocate to show women anything is possible. She understands and embraces the significant responsibility she carries and takes pride in empowering and promoting female leadership from within. Under her mentorship, countless women have risen to executive roles throughout the organization.
Women encouraging women in our industry has made great strides in recent years. As the industry faces a harsh pivot in volume due to rising mortgage rates, we see a contraction in many companies. Tawn’s hope is women will continue to choose mortgage careers for their future as she believes they will find the industry rewarding and sustainable provided the person is willing always to be purpose-driven, fun to work with, and share the goals of the organization. Career stability requires women to take initiative and to take on projects and other opportunities to grow their knowledge, working to become the subject matter expert others feel comfortable relying on.
While Tawn doesn’t know if we will ever be at a place where gender is not a distinction in mortgage banking, she prefers to believe women bring unique aspects and qualities to their roles. By embracing who we are, what we are, and all we can bring to our customers, industry, and businesses, we can achieve equality and define success. As a woman in mortgage banking for over 30 years, she accepts we can overcome shut doors by embracing challenges with determination and collaboration using our work, ethics, and results, to break through any obstacle. Our industry provides many opportunities and finding your lane and conquering goals is immensely satisfying, especially when your goals also benefit so many others.
"The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up. Make sure you are courageous: be strong, be extremely kind, and above all, be humble."
- Serena Williams
Learn more about Melanie...
Melanie is a three-time Women with Vision Award winner and a bright light in the mortgage industry. She excels at her own business and has an equal passion for seeing others succeed. When Melanie isn't taking care of her own clients, she is often in classes, zoom meetings, or chat groups to provide guidance and help to others in the mortgage industry. Help and generosity are words that are synonymous with Melanie Walburg.
Melanie has often been recognized in the industry, receiving awards such as AIME Impact Awards, UWM Top 1% Mortgage Originator, Top 100 Purchase Originator, Digital Dominator, and In the Spotlight.
Having nearly 30 years in the mortgage industry and first handedly seeing the transformation of male domination to a more diverse industry, it is Melanie's vision to see KINDER and more generous ranks of women flourish in the mortgage industry, with hopes of more women-owned mortgage companies in the years to come.
“Sometimes the strength within you is not a big fiery flame for all to see. It is just a tiny spark that whispers ever so softly “you got this, keep going.”
- Unknown
Learn more about Ashley...
Ashley has the will to push and grow that many others will never have! She has taken her coaching and training seriously and has made a name for herself. She is embracing the mindset that less can be more, and by doing this, she puts her focus on the bigger picture and continues to drive and push herself to be the greatest version of Ashley, the Loan Originator, as possible. Ashley will continue to set goals that appear to some to be are unachievable, yet with Ashley’s inner power, she will crush them and continue to grow as a leader.
Ashley has been in the industry for four-plus years. She believes women today need both a vision and a plan to execute the vision. Working side by side with many other women with vision helped her to meet, exceed, and reset the vision.
Diversity has to have a spot at the table — diversity of opinion, of experience, of background.

Learn more about Marcia...
What can be said of Marcia Davies that has not already been said? In truth, this industry giant is the holder of a strong vision for all women in mortgage, a vision warmly embraced by most professionals in the field. As the COO for the MBA, Marcia provides strategic, dynamic leadership for the organization and the industry. She is the founder of MBA Promoting Opportunities for Women to Extend their Reach (mPower), an amazingly engaged community of women in leadership positions across all segments of the mortgage industry.
In Marcia’s vision, women are their own advocates who find allies within the office and within their professional community. And that means working within organizations, championing women and people of color advancing within the organizations and providing those opportunities.
Through initiatives like mPower, Marcia works to bring her vision for a robust future for women to life. The success of her efforts is visible as more women today are positioned to achieve leadership status and are well-represented in all segments of the industry.