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."

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.

By Lisa L. Glover, Interim LISC President & CEO

Three important new federal funding awards will help LISC build the capacity of community-based organizations, while also attracting tens of millions of dollars in private capital to small businesses and economic development projects. Taken as a whole, they illustrate the importance of connecting policy and program expertise to maximize community development resources and create more opportunities for families to thrive.

Since the outbreak of the pandemic and this year's anti-racist protests, LISC has raised some $2 billion in grants, loans and equity to fund programs that aim to upend structural racism and close yawning health, wealth and opportunity gaps. An article in CNN looks at how corporate donors have stepped up to support LISC in this work and points to what will be an ongoing need. As LISC CEO Maurice A. Jones says in the piece, “This requires faithfulness over a long time to have real transformative impact. It can't just be 2020. This has to be a new chapter.”

by Maurice A. Jones, LISC CEO and President

To fulfill our mission of catalyzing opportunity across the country, we are launching the LISC Rural Promise, a commitment to elevate our impact in rural America to 20 percent of our total over the next three years. The Rural Promise will build on 25 years of LISC's investment in and partnership-building with rural people and places. Now, we're taking it to the next level. We chose this week to launch our renewed effort in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose movement for civil rights and racial equity was rooted in rural America, where extraordinary talent, communities, businesses and natural resources are poised today to fuel a competitive national economy.

LISC's CEO explains the how and why of the LISC Rural Promise, our organization-wide commitment to achieve 20 percent of our community development impact in rural America over the next three years.