LISC Phoenix program officer David Longoria sat down for lunch at Authentic EthioAfrica with owner Anduale Hassan, who emigrated from Ethiopia in the 1990s with a vision for creating a community space—and two decades of experience in the food business to help make it a reality.

An article in USA Today explores how Verizon, in partnership with LISC, is helping small businesses stay afloat through the continuing challenges of the pandemic. This includes the recent launch of Verizon Small Business Digital Ready, a free learning resource to help entrepreneurs flourish in an increasingly digital economy, and $10 million in Verizon grants that LISC awarded this year to more than 900 small businesses. Most are women- and BIPOC-owned, including the four community-rooted enterprises highlighted in this piece.

A group of experts, including Julia Ryan, LISC’s VP for Health Programs, gathered for a webinar hosted by U.S. News & World Report, to offer insight and solutions to tackling disparities in COVID vaccination distribution.

As part of their worldwide vaccine access campaign, Vax Because, Global Citizen invited LISC CEO Lisa Glover and Uber's global head of social impact Julia Paige to discuss their $11 million Vaccine Access Fund, designed to upend barriers to transportation to vaccination sites—barriers that primarily affect undeserved communities of color. Said Glover in the video interview, together with Uber, “we can deliver the resources to our partners that are trusted on the ground, and they can work with their communities to get the transportation needs met.”

The pandemic has prodded state and local governments to think hard and act quickly to move public money into shoring up the small business sector. An article in Next City looks at how new public-private partnerships—particularly ones engaging CDFIs, like the LISC-managed NY Forward Loan Fund—are paving the way to make equitable small business development part of a new normal.

Stephanie Hart is not just a baker extraordinaire whose infamous caramel cake is fit for the gods. She’s a creative go-getter who has worked numerous strategic angles to stay in business, diversify the distribution of her products and keep her employees on payroll through the pandemic. Oh—and she’s a big fan of Bears QB Nick Foles, who happened to surprise her with a $10K LISC small business grant for her Brown Sugar Bakery on GMA last week.