Kristen Clements joined Housing Trust in March 2026 as the inaugural Director of Policy and Advocacy, a role created through our transformative 2024 Yield Giving gift, which launched Housing Trust’s new Policy & Partnerships Initiative. In this position, she will shape and advance Housing Trust’s policy, advocacy, and government affairs strategy, while also enhancing our ability to engage as a regional and statewide thought leader in affordable housing, climate-resilient development, and CDFI operations.
Kristen has worked at the intersection of financing and policy for affordable housing and community development for over 30 years. She spent the last 21 years at the City of San José’s Housing Department, working on policy, land use, and production of affordable homes. Kristen co-created the City’s first 3P’s Residential Anti-Displacement Strategy, tenant preferences in affordable housing to fight displacement, and San José’s 2023-2031 Housing Element. She helped to create nearly 5,000 affordable homes in San José, overseeing $390 million in loan originations, bond issuances, the Inclusionary Housing program, homebuyer programs, and asset management of the City’s portfolio of approximately 19,000 affordable homes and $648 billion in multifamily and single-family loans. Before joining the City of San José, Kristen created and administered multifamily affordable housing debt products at Bank of America, made grant awards for affordable rental and for-sale housing at the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, and was a consultant to housing agencies at Price Waterhouse.
Kristen holds a graduate degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and an undergraduate degree in Public Policy from Duke University. She is the Chair of the Planning and Transportation Commission in San Carlos, California, and was a founding board member of the Community Foundation of San Carlos. Kristen recently completed a six-year tenure on the board of the statewide California Housing Consortium. She lives in San Carlos with her husband Doug, her cat Jackie, and sometimes her college-aged son Dylan.
Kristen Clements
