April 27, 2023–OAKLAND, CA
At Merritt, people are at the center of our work. Our staff are mission oriented and work toward our shared vision of everyone having a home in a community where they can thrive. As we continue spotlighting the dedicated people of Merritt, we are excited to introduce Anna Mesholzadeh, our Assistant Asset Manager, who joined in September 2022!
Background
Anna brings experience in both asset and property management. Before joining Merritt, she was an asset manager for professional homebuyers where she did a lot of data-driven analysis and property oversight work. In that role, Anna often assisted people facing barriers to homeownership. Working with prospective homebuyers – some who had saved up for a downpayment but still could not secure financing – gave her a unique perspective on the challenges faced by people seeking housing.
Anna has worked in both commercial and residential properties and was excited to learn and work within Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) properties. “LIHTC operates so differently from other sectors, and I was excited to bring my pervious skillset to this new area of housing and asset management,” said Anna. In her role at Merritt, she gets to combine both her asset and property management experience. In her past roles she would conduct violation reports, review inspection reports, and she helped build a dashboard to track the portfolio, which leads her to be an exceptional asset management team member, providing a technical and analytical perspective.
Joining Merritt
In college, Anna studied economics which led to her interest in affordable housing. She is fascinated by the financial and sustainability aspects of the industry, particularly how affordable housing is built and run. Anna wanted to use her skills to help low-income residents, ensuring they are living with dignity in safe homes.
Anna was drawn to switch from a for-profit company to a non-profit organization because she wanted to work at a community-focused organization. When Anna learned about Merritt’s mission and vision – believing everyone should have a home in a community where they can thrive and the investment in affordable housing, and people, to build a stronger California – she was excited to join. The concept of building a stronger California really resonated with her and she could see how the values were woven into the day-to-day work at Merritt when she joined.
As Anna looks to her future with the Merritt team, she wants to continue to enrich residents’ lives through affordable housing. She believes that with her unique combination of experience and skills, attention to detail, and alignment with Merritt’s mission she can help build a stronger California.
Connecting With Values
For Anna, Merritt’s solutions-oriented value resonates strongly. In her daily asset management work she encounters both immediate and long-term problems and she enjoys working to find the best, most impactful solutions for. She collaborates with her asset management colleagues and the property staff on issues that often need swift and decisive action. Having clearly identified organizational values and finding alignment with values such as kindness and openness, Anna has a strong foundation for her collaborative work.
Anna also feels strongly aligned with the value of People-First. “Connecting with residents and property management teams to assure a safe living environment where people can thrive, and everyone feels heard, makes me excited to do this work. I feel valued and know I can grow both personally and professionally here,” Anna shared.
We are grateful for the work Anna does on the Asset Management team and her driven approach to her work!
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.