Team

David is Vice President, Community Research and Impact at LISC. CRI conducts rigorous studies to evaluate both LISC’s own initiatives and the public policies that shape outcomes in urban and rural areas. CRI also supports program design and systems change efforts, in collaboration with LISC’s national programs, local offices, and their partners. Before LISC he was a Senior Associate with the social policy research nonprofit MDRC, directed policy and advocacy for a coalition of 90 community housing organizations in New York City and organized with shelter residents in the municipal shelter system. He holds a Ph.D. in urban and regional planning from MIT.

As Director of Community Impact, Melissa supports LISC’s program development and community capacity building and manages the National Endowment for the Arts Our Town Technical Assistance program. Previously, she served as Deputy Director of LISC Philadelphia and led programs at various Philadelphia arts and community-based nonprofit organizations. She earned her M.S. in Community and Regional Planning and J.D. from Temple University and B.A. from Amherst College and is an alumna of the Center for Community Investment’s Fulcrum Fellowship and Field Catalyst programs.

Julia supports LISC’s capacity-building, learning, and research activities. Prior to joining LISC, she facilitated coalition organizing and capacity-building with community land trusts in New York City, conducted collaborative community research in the Dominican Republic, and worked in Colombia providing human rights accompaniment and popular education. She has also worked in family and emergency services for Latinx immigrants in Portland, OR, and volunteered in Bolivia and Chile. Julia holds an M.S in Community and Regional Planning and an M.A in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.A in Anthropology and International Peace Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and is a board member of the East Harlem/El Barrio Community Land Trust.

Fay supports CRI’s program design, research, and evaluation for local and national offices. Before joining LISC, Fay was a researcher at the Urban Institute, where she worked on equitable code enforcement, COVID recovery grants, guaranteed income pilots, and tenant protections. Prior to that, she lived and worked in Philadelphia and Cleveland, focusing on affordable housing and community outreach, with an emphasis on geospatial analyses. Fay holds a B.A. in diplomacy and world affairs from Occidental College and two M.A.s in urban spatial analytics and city and regional planning, both from the University of Pennsylvania.