Cali Slepin joined National Housing Trust in 2021 and currently serves as the Director of Lending Initiatives. Cali leads the Lending team’s involvement in local efforts to support the preservation of small buildings. This work blends policy and lending, advocating for the right financing tools to stabilize DC-area families in place and preserve naturally occurring affordable housing.

Cali runs NHT’s TOPA Earnest Money Deposit Loan Program, which helped over 900 households pursue their TOPA rights in 2022. Additionally, she is a participant on the Small Buildings Collaborative and serves as a core team member for DC’s Connecting Capital and Communities initiative. Cali also leads NHT’s RELiEF Pilot, which is a new resident savings program that models ways to align residents and landlords to avoid evictions. In addition to this work, Cali helps NHT Lending explore new areas of business with a focus on expansion to meet racial equity goals.

Cali graduated with a Master of City Planning degree from UC Berkeley, focusing on affordable housing finance and community land trust policy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies and Anthropology from Oberlin College.