October 11, 2023-Oakland, CA
Steven Spears has more than 30 years of experience in financial services. Spears served as Interim Chief Financial Officer at National Housing Trust from July 2022 to October 2023 and was responsible for day-to-day financial services supporting NHT and its affiliates. He was also responsible for ensuring the integrity of financial reports and strategic financial planning for NHT, as well as playing a role in setting the overall strategic direction for the organization and assuring the long-term financial sustainability and growth of NHT. He now serves as a financial advisor to the organization.
Prior to joining NHT, Spears served as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Mercy Housing, Inc a nonprofit affordable housing developer, owner and operator based in Denver, CO. Prior to joining Mercy, he served as Chief Deputy of the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA).
Prior to joining the California Housing Finance Agency, Spears was Managing Director with The SAER Group at KP Advocates and MetWest Financial and Strategic Services with a financial consulting practice that focused on strategic solutions to a variety of problems facing state and local government. He also served as Deputy State Treasurer for Public Finance under California State Treasurer Matt Fong and as Fong’s Legal Counsel at the California State Board of Equalization.
Spears received his law degree from the McGeorge Law School at the University of the Pacific, his MBA from the University of Tennessee and his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Southern Adventist University.
“I am excited to join Merritt because I believe deeply in the mission of providing safe quality housing to those who have few or no options,” said Steven Spears. “For the past 20 plus years I have been involved in lending, investing, developing, owning and operating affordable housing, both single family and multi-family, and it has been such rewarding work.”
“We are excited to welcome Steven Spears to Merritt’s Board of Directors,” said Ari Beliak, CEO of Merritt. “Steven’s skill as a strategic thinker and decades of experience in management, finance, and affordable housing make him an impactful addition to the board.”
About Merritt Community Capital Corporation
Merritt Community Capital Corporation is a nonprofit dedicated to our mission to provide equity capital for affordable housing exclusively to California. We do this by partnering with mission-aligned affordable housing developers throughout the state to ensure the most critical communities are developed and maintained for low-income residents. Since 1989, Merritt has created and/or preserved 11,000 affordable homes, through investing over $1.2 billion in 26 separate funds, providing housing for over 29,700 people.