Affordable Housing Career Development and Pathways

November 9 @ 11:30 am - 1:00 pm

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Explore the many career paths that make affordable housing possible. Designed for emerging leaders in the affordable housing industry, this training will provide an opportunity to reflect on your own professional growth while learning about the diverse roles involved in bringing affordable housing developments to life.

The training will introduce career development concepts — including the distinction between a job, career, and calling — and explore the different professions involved throughout the affordable housing development process. Participants will learn about the responsibilities and skills associated with different sectors and consider how their own experiences and strengths can translate into future career opportunities.

The session will conclude with a panel discussion featuring affordable housing professionals who will share their career journeys, experiences across different sectors of the industry, lessons learned along the way, and advice for emerging leaders navigating their own career paths.

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Speakers Include:

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Celina Pacana, Impact Manager, Merritt Community Capital Corporation
(Moderator)

As Merritt’s Impact Manager, Celina Pacana leads Commitment to Community, Merritt’s impact and community engagement initiative that invests in the housing workforce. She joined the team in 2023, bringing over five years of program management experience in community and economic development.

Before joining Merritt, Celina served as Assistant Program Officer at LISC Los Angeles, where she supported diverse-owned small businesses in underinvested communities by deploying flexible capital and designing technical assistance programs. She also worked at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation as Assistant Program Manager, growing workforce development initiatives across key regional industries.

Celina is passionate about workforce development and mobilizing capital to build stronger, more equitable communities. Through her role, she amplifies Merritt’s impact as an affordable housing investor by empowering the people who create and preserve housing across California.

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Weijia Song, President and Development Director, Collective Operations

Hailing from New Zealand, Weijia Song is a real estate developer and licensed architect. As a founder of Collective Operations (CO-), Weijia serves as President and Development Director, leading the financing and construction of multi-family affordable housing projects throughout California. Before founding CO-, Weijia was a Senior Project Manager at Eden Housing, one of California’s largest non-profit affordable housing developers. At Eden Housing, she delivered 298 affordable units that serve low-income families, seniors, formerly homeless individuals, and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She continues to support affordable housing development through CO- and is spearheading efforts to build and rehabilitate over 4,000 units of affordable housing for CO-’s clients.

Weijia was an Associate Architect at SHoP Architects in New York, where she contributed to the design, management, and construction of large-scale public infrastructure projects including the East River Waterfront Esplanade, Pier 17, and Pier 35, and private multifamily housing projects. Weijia was a Lecturer in Real Estate at the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) where she taught a course on integrating design and real estate development in practice. She assisted in the launch of the Master in Real Estate (MRE) program at Harvard GSD in 2023 and led the MRE Practicum, the program’s capstone course that introduced MRE students to Real Estate Development and Investment practice.

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Sarah Allen, Project Developer, Eden Housing

Sarah Allen is a Project Developer with Eden Housing, Inc. where she works to create and preserve high-quality affordable housing throughout California. Sarah joined Eden in 2022 and is overseeing the development of over 200 units including occupied rehab and adaptive re-use of a former Coast Guard Housing site in Pt. Reyes Station.

Prior to joining Eden, Sarah was the Assistant Planning Director with the City of Lafayette, CA. With 14 years of experience in local government she has had an opportunity to work on both current planning and long-range policy projects including historic preservation, parking regulations and residential construction. Sarah also worked on the 6th Cycle Housing Element Update for Lafayette with a unique and robust community engagement strategy including the repurposing of participatory budgeting software (Balancing Act) into a mapping exercise for the community to allocate RHNA units within the City.

Sarah holds a B.A. in Sociology from Sacramento State University, a certificate in Land Use and Environmental Planning from the UC Davis Extension and Masters in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development from the USC. She is also a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP).

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Claire Parisa, Originations Director, Enterprise Community Partners

Claire Parisa is a Director of Originations at Enterprise Community Partners where she originates LIHTC investments across Northern California and Oregon. During her career Claire has contributed to the development and preservation of over 7,000 units of affordable housing totaling over $3B in financing. She also serves on the faculty at UC Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design where she teaches affordable housing development and finance.

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