Listening, Learning and Forging Ahead

By Lisa L. Glover, LISC Interim CEO

When I stepped into the role of interim CEO of LISC nearly a year ago, I knew I was in for an education. But what I couldn’t have predicted was how wide-ranging and eye-opening that education would be. Even 15 years of collaborating with LISC as a member of the Milwaukee local advisory committee and of the national board of directors didn’t prepare me for just how complex the organization is, how deep the work goes, and how committed and insightful our staff are.

But perhaps the most crucial lesson for me of these past months is the importance of listening to a diversity of voices and opinions, particularly those from the communities we work with—and embracing those opinions to shape our strategy. On a recent visit to Los Angeles, for example, I had the opportunity to meet with a number of small business owners we have partnered with—the majority of them BIPOC and women. Their stories were both harrowing and inspiring: they described the devastating first onslaught of COVID and closing their doors, struggling to re-open and then having to close again before opening a second time in an economy wracked by inflation, clogged supply chains and critical staffing shortages. Hearing—really hearing—these accounts, directly from entrepreneurs themselves, is the only way for us to tailor our support for an equitable recovery for this essential sector.

The most crucial lesson for me is the importance of listening to a diversity of voices and opinions, particularly those from the communities we work with.

It is that primacy of the field and local voices, which LISCers understand so well, that has informed our new leadership structure—our?president , Denise Scott, has spent the better part of her career in the field and understands this priority like no one else. And it is LISC’s alignment with community voices and our relationships in local markets that have made us such a trusted, go-to intermediary in the wake of the pandemic and our country’s racial reckoning. 2020 set in motion a wave of funding and investments via LISC to deploy to the hardest hit communities and spark equitable recovery—a trend we were able to build on throughout 2021.

Last year, for instance, we raised a record $190 million—dollars that continue to support small businesses, especially minority- and women-owned businesses, and developers of color. We passed the halfway mark to our?$1 billion dollar goal to support Project 10X —that’s $650 million to fund projects that challenge systemic racial discrimination and upend barriers to economic mobility and equitable opportunity for Black residents. I have been bowled over by the number of funders who have stepped up with multi-million-dollar contributions, and the commitment to meaningful change those investments signify.

On the affordable housing front, our subsidiary, National Equity Fund, broke its own record last year, too: despite the continued challenges of the pandemic, NEF invested an extraordinary $2.2 billion in Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) to create and preserve quality, affordable housing.?Our lending portfolio, meanwhile, reached an unprecedented $500 million in 2021—catalyzing small businesses, real estate development and so much more in underinvested places across the country.

Moving forward, I’m dedicated, as I’ve said before, to helping LISC keep up the momentum. I’m particularly excited about deepening our investments in communities where we already work—including rural and tribal places—and partnering with new supporters on innovative ventures. We are embarking, for example, on several supplier diversity initiatives that will encourage contracting with BIPOC- women-, veteran- and LGBTQ-owned enterprises as suppliers to large clients such as hospitals, universities and other entities.

We’re delving into new home ownership opportunities, too, and new lending products that embrace a broader diversity of borrowers. And we are also redoubling our efforts to build the capacity of organizations that, in turn, help local and state governments deploy the federal social safety net dollars available right now. A gratifying example of how LISC does this is our work last year in California and New York State, supporting municipalities to get?federal emergency rental assistance ?out the door to some of the millions of American families in danger of eviction for falling behind on rent during the pandemic.

And the list goes on.

Ultimately, everything we’ll be doing in 2022 and beyond is intended to intensify the positive, lasting impact that access to capital and opportunity can have in the communities we serve. I have had the privilege to see, up close, that LISC has an abundance of brain power and heart—and the ability to listen—to help get the work done.

Story was originally published here: https://www.lisc.org/our-stories/story/listening-learning-and-forging-ahead/