Our Team Member

Mercedes Fuentes is the Director of Homeownership Programs for Elevation Community Land Trust. She began working for the organization in February 2019 as the Homebuyer Manager. In her current role, Mercedes oversees and performs day-to-day operations of the homeownership programs, directs the homeowner experience, and leads a team to ensure a high-quality and engaging homebuying process for ECLT applicants. She is also responsible for managing protocols required by external partners to ensure ECLT’s compliance with regulations at local, state, and federal levels.

Professionally trained as an educator, Mercedes began her career teaching classes at the University Autonomy of Hidalgo State in Mexico and then spent 10 years in education and direct services before engaging in the non-profit sector in Colorado. Her experience includes leading education efforts for children and family education, community empowerment and engagement, computer classes, homeownership, financial services, programs compliance, down payment loan assistance/underwriting, small business development, lending circles, and affordable housing.

Before joining Elevation, Mercedes led the Newsed CDC’s housing counseling department, small business administration, and lending circles as Director of Programs. She had worked with other Colorado housing non-profit organizations, including Community Resources and Housing Development Corporation (CHRDC), Rocky Mountain Mutual Housing, and Southwest Family Center.

Mercedes has dedicated her career to helping low and moderate-income families by sharing her expertise on how to achieve financial stability and housing security. She has been acknowledged nationally for her efforts, most notably as a nominee for the White House Champions of Change in Housing and locally as the Key Counselor Award with the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. Mercedes also received the Civil Rights Award in 2016 and other local awards in the following years. She continues to be a passionate advocate for equitable housing across Colorado. Mercedes holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla.