December 11, 2023-Oakland, CA
Julie Quinn joined Merritt in November 2020 as the Director of Investor Relations after a decade at Housing Trust. In her time at Merritt, Julie has made an impressive impact and organizational changes by growing the Investor Relations team, creating a communications department, and closing Merritt’s two largest funds in its 34-year history. Julie also played a pivotal role on the design team working to implement Merritt’s strategic plan and outline an updated Vision, Mission, and Values.
When Julie interviewed, she was impressed by the people at Merritt and the unique position Merritt holds as a nonprofit low-income housing tax credit equity syndicator dedicated to California. By being a revenue generating nonprofit, Merritt is poised to expand beyond the syndicator role and create programs to support affordable housing across the state without competing for resources.
When looking at Merritt’s future, Julie speaks to the talent and creativity of the ambitious staff and the support of the Board, leading to a group that will find new and impactful ways to engage partners and support affordable housing.
Julie completed her M.A. in Urban Planning from the University of Southern California where part of her coursework included an internship. Her first experience in affordable housing was during an internship with East LA Community Corporation. “I have always been purpose driven but at the time didn’t know what ‘affordable housing’ meant,” Julie said. “What resonated with me at ELACC was having a job where I would help create homes, something concrete, that could have an immediate and beneficial impact on people’s lives.”
Since completing grad school, Julie has worked in a wide variety of roles – from managing loan portfolios to downpayment assisting lending, from real estate development to fundraising – all in affordable housing. Seeing so many aspects of the industry has given her a unique perspective.
Julie shared that Merritt’s value of kindness is one she finds most meaningful. She believes in the importance of assuming best intentions and engaging in mindful communication. Leading all interactions with kindness can be challenging at times but it is invaluable in building and maintaining relationships. This is central to fostering openness and trust, which allows a team to be creative and focus on problem-solving.
Merritt has benefited from three years of Julie bringing expertise and a unique perspective. We are grateful for all she has done and look forward to seeing what she’ll accomplish in the future!
Julie has taken a new role at Housing Trust in San Jose as the Chief Program Officer starting in January 2024. We will miss Julie’s leadership and openness at Merritt, but we are excited for her next adventure!
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.