“A Gateway for Possibilities”: Resident Leadership and Community Ownership

LISC's Institute for Community Power has published a new Spotlight examining three leadership development programs designed and implemented by LISC and local partners for distinct communities in different parts of the country: Training the Trainers (T4T) in Houston; the Newark Resident Leadership Academy (NRLA); and Community Connectors in Philadelphia. Each group has leveraged the leadership program to inform and strengthen their work and, in turn, to serve their communities more effectively.

By David M. Greenberg, LISC VP, Community Research and Impact

On Wall Street and downtowns around the country, declining in-person work is driving near-record office vacancies, with implications for nearby businesses, the urban tax base, and public services. But on main streets across the country, LISC is addressing some of the same technological and economic changes behind downtown vacancies, to support entrepreneurs of color facing displacement.

By Julia Duranti-Martinez

In recognition and celebration of LGBTQ+ Pride Month, LISC’s Institute for Community Power delves into the intersections between the work of community development and that of queer and trans communities across the country around housing, land use, economic mobility and much more. In the piece that follows, Julia Duranti-Martinez, senior program officer for Community Research and Impact and a member of LISC's LGBTQ+ affinity group, highlights some of the struggles and triumphs of LGBTQ+ people and communities in the context of our sector, and of our society as a whole—and points to the paths leading to progress.

People of color disproportionately bore the brunt of small business closures during the pandemic, even as large corporations reaped record profits. But the pandemic has also sparked creative and thoughtful responses to support an equitable recovery among small business owners, while helping them create quality jobs. The LISC Institute for Community Power hosted a conversation with three individuals that have been at the forefront of that experimentation.

By David M. Greenberg, LISC VP of Knowledge Management & Strategy

LISC's newest research report offers powerful evidence that racism, financial exclusion and disinvestment have paved the way for speculators to reap huge profits in neighborhoods of color. But there’s good news, too: Buildings with affordability subsidies are better maintained and remain protected from speculation.

By David M. Greenberg and Patricia Voltolini

A new playbook from LISC and Next City offers a framework for paving equitable pathways to small business success, and lays out concrete strategies for supporting capital access, small business capacity, and commercial real estate. Two of its authors explain why that’s so important.