Stories
The Crucial Link Between Racial Equity and Equitable Lending
As Black History Month draws to a close, Connie Max, executive vice president of LISC Lending, examines how the time-worn structures of borrowing must change if we are ever to narrow the racial wealth gap and see our national economy truly flourish. Nothing less than authentic inclusion and full participation of all people will work—and LISC has some strategies for how to make that happen.
A Look Forward to 2022, From LISC Lending
January always seems to offer hope and possibility, even as one year’s burdens sometimes follow us into the next. That is certainly true of 2022. We may not be able to stop a deadly virus in its tracks, but we can address the through-line of inequality that characterizes much of its impact.
Investing in Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
As part of an ongoing blog series, LISC’s Anna Smukowski looks at the way LISC is advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through a range of activities supported by LISC Impact Notes, including investments that support Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.
The State Of Lending
LISC SVP for Lending, Connie Max, lays out the imperative of fast, flexible capital as part of the broad effort of CDFIs such as LISC to upend the inequities that keep individuals, small businesses and historically under-invested communities from thriving. LISC’s ability to deploy dollars quickly, where they’re needed, and track impact, has inspired corporate and philanthropic funders to invest in our work, especially in light of the pandemic and our country’s racial reckoning. But so much more is needed to close racial health, wealth and opportunity gaps, and the stories of LISC borrowers show just how effective this capital can be.
“Small Business Is Personal for Us”: Q&A with Julie Huston, CEO of immito
Last year, LISC launched its newest subsidiary, the SBA-guaranteed lender immito, to scale our ability to reach and support underserved small businesses and help spur job growth across the country. Julie Huston, immito’s founding president, is a seasoned small business expert—in fact, she recently testified before Congress re: new budget proposals that would hamper small business entrepreneurs’ access to credit. We caught up with Huston at her base in Denver to learn more about immito, the economic and social power of small business, and why all this is so close to Huston’s heart.
Without Risk, There’s No Reward. Especially in Community Development
In a blog post for Providence Business News, Jeanne Cola, director of LISC Rhode Island, stresses the role of calculated risk-taking when lending to promising community projects. It’s how LISC started—investing in people and places when no one else would—and it’s still paying off, as with the beautiful WaterFire arts center in Providence.