Banks play a central role in narrowing the homeownership gap between White and African American households. We examine whether having an African American director on the board of a bank influences mortgage access for African American borrowers. First, we find that the appointment of African American directors is endogenous -- banks with African American directors tend to be larger, attract more applications from economically disadvantaged areas, have a higher proportion of female directors, rely less on deposits, hold fewer real estate loans, and are more frequently headquartered in states with a greater share of African American executives. Second, we document that banks with an African American director provide significantly more mortgage loans to African American mortgage borrowers. This effect arises primarily from a higher number of African American applicants, rather than lower rejection rates for African American mortgage applicants. We validate these findings using four econometric approaches: OLS, matching methods, modified control function regressions, and an analysis of African American director appointments. Third, we find no observable relationship between African American board representation and overall bank performance or valuation. Taken together, the results provide a nuanced view of how representation affects access to credit.