As president and CEO of Prosperity Now, the nation’s leading institution for advancing economic equity, Marisa Calderon is continuing her career-long effort to keep the dream of home ownership — a key path to prosperity — alive for all Americans, especially those who face barriers to access or capital. Her work, however, is not to perpetuate the status quo that has driven the housing industry for years, and which is based on the notion that consumers are faced with just two choices, either owning an entire property outright or renting. Instead, she is both advocating for and pursuing innovative solutions and new models of ownership — such as co- or fractional home ownership — as a way to increase available housing, make the cost of entry more affordable and provide the opportunity for people who otherwise might be shut out of the market to build equity.
Calderon is designing innovative scalable solutions to address homeownership and equity building barriers experienced by communities of color. She’s doing that by identifying friction points in the housing space then crafting systemic solutions so those organizations that are proximate to the consumer can be a part of the solution. The goal is to create pathways to capital so that more people can realize the American dream of homeownership.
With estimates of the national housing supply shortage ranging from 3.8 million housing units to 6.8 million, leaders like Calderon are realizing the need to come up with creative solutions to address the housing inventory shortage. Calderon believes one such solution is allowing homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs), also known as casitas or ‘granny flats,’ which help add more housing in existing neighborhoods.
Name:
Marisa Calderon
Title:
President & Chief Executive Officer
Company Name:
Prosperity Now
