Mrs. Patricia Garcia Duarte is Executive Vice President, Homeownership Initiatives at Chicanos Por La Causa, Inc. (CPLC), a multi-state nonprofit organization headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona dedicated to Health & Human Services, Housing, Education, Economic Development, and Advocacy.
Mrs. Garcia Duarte is focused on building a homeownership ecosystem to narrow the wealth gap among Hispanic, Black, Asian, Indigenous, and low-income people. She previously, for 16 years, served as President and CEO at Trellis, an Arizona nonprofit, where she had the responsibilities of creating a housing vision and guiding the strategic goals to better serve clients, stakeholders, and communities. Mrs. Garcia Duarte holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Finance from Arizona State University.
For the last thirty-five years, she has worked in the community development sector. She is a former member of the Inaugural Community Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Community Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve. She has been a volunteer board member of non-profit groups that promote self-sufficiency through economic development and affordable housing opportunities to low and moderate-income individuals. She previously served on the City of Phoenix Commission on Housing and Neighborhoods, City of Mesa Housing Task Force, the Regional Workforce Housing Task Force, and the South-Central Transit Oriented Development Steering Committee for the City of Phoenix.
Currently, she is a board member at Community Housing Capital, a national Community Development Financial Institution; City of Phoenix, Parks & Preserve Initiative Oversight Committee, National NeighborWorks Association, Downtown Phoenix Community Development Corp., Rio Reinvestment & Redevelopment Committee, and the Arizona Community Foundation. She is also a community advisory member to Comerica Bank and Western Alliance Bank.
She is a past recipient of the following awards: 2009 Brian Mickelson Housing Hero Award, 2010 Lupe Sisneros Memorial Award, 2011 NNA Emerging Leader Award, 2011 BBVA Compass Visionary Team Leader Award, 2016 Outstanding Women in Business, 2016 Rosa Carrillo Humanitarian Award and 2022 Women of Achievement.
As an advocate, she is attentive to matters that impact consumers, especially low-moderate income individuals and families. Mrs. Garcia Duarte is an Arizona native, raised in Yuma County and lives in Chandler, AZ with her husband and three adult children.
Vice President, Director of Lending, Prestamos
Originator and Responsible Individual
Ramona Martinez is an Arizona resident with over 20 years’ experience and manages the day-to-day operations, including the hiring and managing of the lending team and compliance. Ms. Martinez has a proven history of developing and implementing community mortgage lending products. Her extensive knowledge of various down payment assistance programs, including FHLB WISH will allow CPLC Home Lending to leverage assistance for eligible borrowers. Ms. Martinez is fluent in English and Spanish.
Formerly, Ms. Martinez was a Community Development Loan Originator at Prime Lending, Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, and US Bank Home Mortgage, among others. As the Vice President/Community Redevelopment Administrator at National Bank of Arizona, Ms. Martinez administered and coordinated community development activities in the mortgage lending field. She assisted with monitoring programs and policies and provided technical assistance to other loan officers and housing nonprofit entities.
Ms. Martinez has been recognized as a top producing team member by First Interstate Bank, Norwest Bank, and National Bank of AZ. She has received special recognition by Salt River Maricopa Community for her Section 184 Lender accomplishments.
Ms. Martinez has also served on various board of directors dedicated to the mortgage and real estate industries.
Mortgage Loan Originator
Melissa is an AZ native and grew up in Casa Grande, AZ. She has over 13 years of experience in the mortgage industry that includes both servicing and originations. She attended both Arizona State University and University of Arizona and holds a bachelor’s degree from the latter in Regional Development. She also has experience working in a non- profit and has worked in Housing Services for CAHRA. She loves educating others and helping families realize their dreams of home ownership. She is also an accomplished musician and plays Latin/Mariachi music in many groups in southern Arizona including Phoenix based all-female Mariachi Rubor.
Mortgage Loan Originator
Domenica is a bilingual (English/Spanish) loan originator with over 15 years’ experience in the industry. She has a diverse background in IT and mortgage software testing. She is licensed as a Mortgage Loan Originator from Gateway Community College and has worked as a mortgage loan originator, escrow officer, and quality assurance analyst for several banks and mortgage loan companies in Arizona.
CPLC Home Lending provides a unique opportunity for home ownership. As a Latina-led, nonprofit program of Chicanos Por La Causa, our mission is to help you find affordable homeownership options. We strive to empower our community financially and narrow the wealth gap among people of color.
We created this program because we noticed a gap in resources available to the members of our community. Too often, low income and minority communities do not have enough funds to begin their homeownership journey. Our unique nonprofit model allows us to provide home mortgages at an affordable cost to you.
We are committed to advancing urban development. With a long history of providing affordable housing options, we also wanted to offer affordable residential mortgage loans to assist more people in our community.
Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC) formed in 1969 to fight discrimination against the Mexican American community. Inspired by Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, we advocated for equity in education, politics, and labor conditions. Today, CPLC provides services to people of all backgrounds while honoring our Mexican-American roots.
We facilitate growth through five Areas of Impact:
Through our sister programs within CPLC, you have other resources available at your disposal. If you are ready to search for a home, you can view available and affordable properties listed with our partner Tiempo.