Mari Castaldi is Director of State Housing Policy with the Housing and Income Security team. Prior to joining the Center, Mari was the Senior Policy Advocate on Homelessness at Housing California, where she helped lead diverse coalitions to advocate for state legislation and budget investments for affordable housing, services, and care for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Before that, she was the Director of Policy at the Chicago Jobs Council, where she worked at the intersections of economic security, workforce development, and homelessness in Illinois.

Mari started her career working in direct services as the Program Coordinator of the Economic Security and Opportunity Clinic at the East Bay Community Law Center. She received her Master's in Public Affairs from Princeton University and her BA in Politics and Latin American Studies from Oberlin College.