By Yvonne Nolan, Vice President of Charter School Financing

Income, race and geography persistently define the educational landscape—year after year, in every state, across both urban and rural communities. "No matter where families might live—no matter their backgrounds or incomes—public education should offer kids the opportunity to reach their full potential,” writes LISC’s Yvonne Nolan, in a new blog commemorating 20 years of investments through LISC’s charter school financing program. “We refuse to stand by and let crumbling buildings undermine student learning and perpetuate inequality,” she says.

LISC’s charter school finance team analyzed the full range of charter school bond issuance from 2015-2022, building on three prior reports that catalogued the history of the sector. “With public charter schools now educating more than 3.7 million students nationwide, and against the backdrop of unprecedented learning loss stemming from the pandemic, preserving dollars to invest in core academic programs is of heightened importance,” the report states.

By Matt Josephs, LISC Senior Vice President for Policy

Strong public policies have always been critical to promoting affordable housing, economic development, health, and jobs. The urgency surrounding these issues remains ever-present. LISC SVP for Policy Matt Josephs zeroes in on the goals of LISC’s federal policy agenda in a blog highlighting proposals that tackle gaps in health, wealth and opportunity affecting millions of families and their communities.

An article in NewsOne, an online news outlet run by Urban One, Inc., the country's largest African American media organization, delves into LISC's internship program placing students from HBCUs with community development financial institutions. The program is a "win-win," says LISC president Denise Scott in the piece, because it exposes interested students to the field of community development which, in turn, is "looking for young leaders with all kinds of different skill sets to step into this industry."

A new LISC internship program is helping close opportunity gaps for HBCU students while introducing them to important aspects of the community development field. “This program is part of our work to address systemic racial barriers that keep young people from gaining the experience and connections they need to compete for good jobs,” said LISC President Denise Scott.

The LISC Charter School Financing team hit the ground running during the summer back-to-school season with a $10 million loan to Texas Empowerment Academy. The loan will help support the ground-up construction of an 81,838-square-foot, two-story school facility in Austin, Texas.