Jessica (Mui) Cherepski currently serves as SVP, Originations at Merchants Capital. Ms. Cherepski has nearly two decades of commercial real estate experience and has closed $2 billion+ in multifamily debt originations throughout her career. Her areas of focus include highly structured and complex transactions with tax-exempt and taxable bond financing, risk share loans, Non-LIHTC transactions, etc. She was previously Senior Vice President, GSE Chief Underwriter at Merchants from 2019 to 2022, and held a senior credit position in the years prior until she decided to transition to the Production team. Before joining Merchants in 2016, she was Manager of Freddie Mac Lending at The Community Preservation Corporation (CPC) where she managed a pipeline of over $100 million annually, consisting of primarily conventional market rate loans and led CPC's efforts to jumpstart its Freddie Mac SBL platform. Jess grew up in the Kips Bay/Murray Hill area of NYC and spent the greater part of her childhood years living at NYCHA’s Nathan Strauss Houses. Affordable housing holds a special place in her heart – she understands first-hand the importance of living in a safe, well-maintained home. She is President of the Women’s Affordable Housing Network (WAHN) – New York chapter, a board member of New York State Affordable Housing and Finance Agency (NYSAFAH), and a member of Women in Housing and Finance (WHF). Jess graduated with her Master of Science degree in Real Estate from the Zicklin School of Business and her Bachelor of Science degree in Finance and International Business from Villanova University.