Emma Chávez serves as Director at the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF). She is based in Los Angeles and is responsible for lending activities in the Western Region, which includes California, Texas, Oregon, Washington, Colorado, and Hawaii. Emma also develops, manages, and supports funder relationships and leads LIIF’s efforts in advancing affordable housing policy initiatives. Emma has over 20 years of experience in affordable housing finance and development and has a strong commitment to social justice and community revitalization.
Prior to joining LIIF, Emma was Vice President of Community Development Lending at Boston Private Bank where she was responsible for growing and managing the Bank’s California community development construction and permanent lending portfolio. Before that, Emma was Loan Officer at the California Community Reinvestment Corporation (CCRC) where she underwrote forward commitments and conversion fundings for permanent loans in support of 9% and 4% LIHTC affordable housing developments.
Emma began her community development career as a Hipolito "Paul" Roldan Fellow at the Hispanic Housing Development Corporation (HHDC) during graduate school in Chicago and her lending career at the Chicago Community Loan Fund (CCLF).
Emma graduated from Lynwood High School and is the first in her family to attend a four-year university. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and a Masters in Urban Planning and Public Policy from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). Emma serves on the Board of Directors of Holos Communities, she is a Loan Committee Member for the Los Angeles County Development Authority (LACDA), and is active in her son’s Boy Scouts of America troop. She lives in Los Angeles with her family.
