Afraa Salem is a strategic finance executive with more than 15 years of experience leading financial planning, capital strategy, and organizational growth across mission-driven organizations. Throughout her career, she has partnered closely with executive leadership teams, boards, lending programs, and operational leaders to strengthen financial sustainability while advancing organizational impact.
Prior to joining ROC USA as Chief Financial Officer, Afraa served as Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis at LISC, where she led enterprise planning, forecasting, financial reporting, and strategic decision support across a national community development organization. Her experience spans affordable housing, community development finance, microfinance, and nonprofit lending, including leadership roles with organizations such as LIIF, Accion Opportunity Fund, Kiva, and the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance.
Afraa is recognized for her collaborative leadership style, commitment to cross-functional partnership, and ability to connect financial strategy with mission outcomes. She is passionate about using finance as a tool to expand opportunity, strengthen communities, and support long-term organizational sustainability.
In Afraa’s words, “what drew me to ROC USA is its belief that affordable housing is not just about preserving homes, it’s about creating opportunity. Helping residents become owners of the communities they call home builds long-term stability, equity, and wealth. What makes ROC’s model especially powerful is that it pairs financing with technical assistance, giving communities not only the capital to purchase their neighborhoods, but also the support to succeed for generations.”