Merritt recently celebrated the completion of another successful Merritt Scholars program through our annual graduation event! This year, we recognized 20 graduates, 70% of whom have obtained opportunities in fields in or related to affordable housing! Eleven of our graduates are actively seeking opportunities and are equipped with all of the tools they need to start immediately! Congrats to the following scholars who completed this year’s program:
- Calvin Hill, UC San Diego, B.S. Real Estate Development
- Carly Zhou, Cal Poly, San Louis Obispo, M.S. Quantitative Economics
- Chloe Orozco Myers, UC Davis, B.S. Community and Regional Development
- Elijah Teats, CSU, Fresno, B.A. Business Real Estate and Urban Land Economics
- Erick Rocha, Stanford University, B.A. Sociology: Data Science, Management, & Markets
- Hector Torres, UC Santa Cruz, B.A. Sociology and Psychology
- Jenae Edwards, University of Southern California, B.A. Architecture, Minor in Real Estate Development
- Jonathan Donis, Stanford University, B.A. Sustainability Science and Practice
- Kaitlyn Tran, UC Berkeley, B.A. Urban Studies and Political Science
- Kayla Brons, UC Irvine, M.A. Urban and Regional Planning
- Lily Keefauver, UC San Diego, B.A. Urban Studies and Planning
- Luiz Torres, CSU Sacramento, M.A. Public Policy & Administration
- Lola Quiroga, UC Santa Cruz, B.A. Computer Science
- Manuela Martinez, CSU, Long Beach, M.A. Geography
- Norma Guzman Hernandez, UCLA, MPH
- Rebeca Duran Lopez, UC Irvine, M.A. Urban and Regional Planning
- Saidy Reyes, UC Berkeley, B.A. Architecture
- Sarah Guzman, UCLA, M.A. Urban Planning with a Concentration in Housing Development
- Thomas Phung, UC Davis, B.S. Managerial Economics
- Victor Rodriguez, San Jose State University, M.A. Urban Planning
In the last three years, the Merritt Scholars Program has had 56 scholars, 75% of those who have actively taken an interest in pursuing a career in the affordable housing industry. Many of these scholars have a personal journey or experienced housing instability that has inspired them to make significant changes that will have a lasting impact on future generations.
As a critical component of our C2C initiative, the Merritt Scholars program is vital to building a stronger California. We are continually impressed with the talent that continues to elevate this program.
Stay tuned for updates on our upcoming 2025 cohort, which kicks off at the end of June!