In this economy, it takes creativity, collaboration, and patience to make affordable homeownership a reality. Those are precisely the qualities driving Core City, a LISC Toledo program that acquires, renovates, and sells vacant and blighted properties for homeownership. Learn how we’ve teamed up with Owens Corning to bring homeownership within reach for more Toledo residents.

In a wide-ranging interview with Denver Fredericks, host of the Business of Giving podcast, LISC CEO Michael T. Pugh describes the pillars of LISC's work investing in communities and what's on the horizon for the CDFI under his leadership. "[We] can be a real catalyst for economic development in communities," says Pugh. "And frankly the best is yet to come."

LISC teamed up with Rocket Community Fund to connect under-resourced communities to the coaching and financial products they need to accelerate their asset-building journey in the current economy. Our initiative has helped nearly 2,100 people develop the financial know-how to make the most of their incomes and build savings at the same time. Meet three of them.

In recognition of Black History Month, we’d like you to meet four organizations that, through support from LISC and the Black Economic Development Fund, are creating housing, employment and other economic opportunities in the neighborhoods that need them the most.

A healthy community isn’t just about access to high-quality, reliable health care. Individuals and families also need access to good jobs, opportunities to build wealth, and thriving, locally-owned businesses. Kaiser Permanente understands how economic factors can shape well-being, especially in communities of color that often don’t benefit from regional or national prosperity. Learn how LISC is collaborating with Kaiser Permanente to support locally-driven strategies that spark economic growth in under-invested places.

By Michael T. Pugh, LISC CEO

LISC president and CEO Michael T. Pugh reflects on what he's learned in his first months helming the organization, and shares top priorities for the year, both internally and for supporting the communities we work with. Green housing, second-chance employment and AI as a tool for more efficient credit-building and lending are at the top of the list, along with strengthening and streamlining LISC's operations to achieve maximum impact in people's lives.