LISC announced today that the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) has surpassed its $500 million goal for small business lending across the country—more than two years ahead of schedule. LISC is now expanding the program to double its impact, aiming to support $1 billion in financing for underserved businesses and communities. “We are working to level the playing field—to connect promising but overlooked businesses to affordable financing so that whole communities can benefit from economic development and growth,” said Steve Hall, LISC vice president of Small Business Lending.

Heirs' property issues have long been a leading cause of involuntary land loss, particularly among Black families. With a new $750,000 multiyear grant from the U.S. Bank Foundation Opportunity Fund, LISC will work with community-based organizations in Cincinnati and Cleveland to provide families with estate planning, legal support and financial counseling that can help clear up clouded property titles and preserve homes for future generations.

The CDFI Fund announced $408M in funding for 357 CDFIs to provide financial products and services for underserved individuals and communities

Historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) often have smaller endowments than large universities, which can limit athletic facility upgrades. That's why $6.5 million in funding from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation for HBCU field improvements is such a big deal. Thanks to this funding, along with support from the NFL Foundation and expertise from LISC, four HBCUs in Georgia and Alabama will kick off their football seasons this fall with refurbished fields.

LISC, Enterprise Community Partners and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York have published What's Possible: Investing NOW for Prosperous, Sustainable Neighborhoods. With contributions from LISC green and financing experts, the volume is a timely and crucial guidebook to equitable green investing and community development and especially timely on the heels of the historic $20 billion in federal investment to expand access to clean energy and climate solutions.

Next month, LISC and Enterprise Community Partners will release “What’s Possible: Investing NOW for Prosperous, Sustainable Neighborhoods,” an urgent collection of essays on the intersection of community development and climate resilience.