Sen. Cindy Nava
STATE News:
SANTA FE — Sen. Cindy Nava (D- Bernalillo) has been appointed Vice Chair of the National Hispanic Caucus of State Legislators’ (NHCSL) Housing Task Force for the 2026-2027 term.
The appointment was made by NHCSL Vice President for Public Policy Delegate Joseline Peña-Melnyk of Maryland and approved by NHCSL President, Rep. Juan Candelaria of Connecticut.
Sen. Nava brings exceptional credentials to this national leadership role. Before her election to the New Mexico State Senate in 2024, she served as Senior Policy Advisor and Acting Assistant Deputy Secretary in the Office of Field Policy and Management at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in Washington, D.C.
She holds the distinction of being the first DACA recipient in the country to receive a White House appointment.
At HUD, she led efforts to expand affordable housing resources across the department’s 64 field offices nationwide, advanced innovative approaches to address homelessness, developed first time homebuyer programs and helped forge the agency’s first-ever Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee in partnership with the Office of Native American Programs.
As a state senator representing Bernalillo and District 9, Sen. Nava has continued to champion access to affordable housing as a cornerstone of her legislative agenda, fighting to ensure that all New Mexicans have the opportunity to build stable, secure lives in their communities.
“Affordable housing is the foundation on which families build their futures, and that belief has driven my work from HUD’s headquarters in DC, across its 64 field offices and now to the New Mexico State Senate,” Nava said. “At HUD, I saw firsthand how the right policies like expanding resources, investing in expansion of first-time homebuyer programs, strategically addressing homelessness, and lifting up tribal communities, can transform lives at scale. I am deeply honored to bring that experience to NHCSL’s Housing Task Force and to work alongside Latino legislators from across the country to ensure our communities have safe, affordable places to call home. All families, here in New Mexico and in every corner of this nation, deserve nothing less.”
About the Housing Task Force:
The Housing Task Force works to advance policies that promote affordable housing, expand homeownership opportunities, combat homelessness, and address the systemic barriers that disproportionately affect Hispanic and underserved communities across the country. In her role as Vice Chair, Sen. Nava will help set the task force’s policy priorities for the next two years and will represent those priorities before NHCSL’s Executive Committee and Business Board of Advisors (BBA).