This week HousingWire launched a new award program, HW Insiders, aimed at recognizing the key players in every company who are vital to that company's success, but may not be well-known in the larger industry.

Why a new award program?

The HW Insiders replaces the Fast50, a list we were very much attached to, but one that required companies to divulge year-over-year financials — something many private companies were understandably reluctant to do. Knowing that, we began to question the completeness (and continued relevancy) of that list. 

At the same time, when we looked at our other programs honoring mortgage professionals, there was a noticeable gap — the people doing much of the actual work.

Our Rising Stars have achieved impressive milestones by the age of 40, the Vanguards are those who have risen to the very top of our industry as executives and the Women of Influence have impacted the whole industry not only in their individual companies but also  through mentoring, publishing or volunteer work.

But what about the outstanding achievers who fit none of those categories?

In every one of our award programs we see nominations for deserving individuals doing outstanding work, but who aren't being judged on a truly level playing field. For instance, a loan officer originating significant loan volume who's clearly a standout, or a tech wizard who rolled out an incredible integration are often competing against C-level execs who manage hundreds of employees and can point to bottom-line growth in the millions.

We love executives, but we want to champion the people who are invaluable to companies in a hundred other ways as well. The HW Insiders will recognize the professionals that are central to a company's success — the people everyone knows internally as a critical resource, but who may not be as visible to the industry at large.

We intentionally kept the occupational categories broad — it's not just for loan officers or operations people, appraisers or IT leaders — it's for all of these and more. It's a program for those in U.S. mortgage lending, servicing, investing and real estate who are doing stellar work. It's not so much about what they do (a title) but how they do it (excellently, above and beyond). 

We are incredibly excited about this program and can't wait to unveil it in our September issue of HousingWire Magazine! We've opened up the nomination period, which runs through the end of June, and look forward to meeting the inaugural Insiders group. Step up and be recognized!

Click the logo below to nominate your Insider!