September 18, 2023-Oakland, CA
Merritt is thrilled to have Gisela Salgado from California Coalition for Rural Housing join our Board of Directors! Gisela is the Director of Leadership Development at CCRH, and we work closely with her on our Commitment to California initiative through the CCRH Internship and Merritt scholars.
Gisela shared, “I am thrilled to join the Merritt Capital board. I share Merritt’s belief that everyone should have a home in a community where they can thrive. I am excited to support an organization that invests in affordable housing and people to build a stronger California. “
Gisela graduated from CCRH’s Rural West Internship Program for Diversity in Nonprofit Housing and Community Development in 2003 and has a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from the University of San Diego. She leads the nationally touted Internship program, the three-phase racial equity process at CCRH, and development of a new fellowship program to advance mid-career BIPOC emerging leaders in rural housing and help organizations thrive by successfully recruiting and retaining them. She values the work and collaboration of her three-staff team offering support to CCRH’s leadership programs and racial equity efforts.
Before joining CCRH in 2005, she worked as a project developer for three years with Community Housing Wors in San Diego County. In this role she contributed to the development of three properties with 168 units of affordable housing. Gisela is fluent in Spanish and, coming from an immigrant and underserved community, has a strong cultural and social affinity for ensuring equitable opportunities and quality of life for under-represented communities.
“I am pleased to welcome Gisela Salgado from California Coalition for Rural Housing to Merritt’s Board of Directors,” said Ari Beliak, Merritt’s CEO. “Gisela’s experience in leadership development and racial equity is an impactful addition to our board. She has been a great partner in developing the Merritt Scholars program and the CCRH internship and emerging leader program that Merritt funds as part of our Commitment to California, and we are excited to have her voice on our board.”
Join us in welcoming Gisela to Merritt’s Board of Directors!
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.