LISC has named an expert on community and population health to its national board, which helps guide the organization's investments in housing, businesses, health and jobs.
LISC elects Dr. Alisahah Cole to national board of directors to help guide investments in housing, businesses, health and jobs
NEW YORK (Oct. 23, 2020)—The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has named a top national health official with deep experience in community engagement to its board of directors.
Dr. Alisahah Cole is system vice president for population health innovation and policy at CommonSpirit Health, where she designs strategies focused on the well-being of vulnerable populations. CommonSpirit has 137 hospitals and more than 1,000 care sites in 21 states.
She joins a 27-member LISC board that is chaired by former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin and includes leaders from the fields of finance, community development, academia, health and philanthropy.
“We are thrilled to have our friend and colleague Dr. Cole bring her expertise as a family medicine practitioner and community and population health leader to our work addressing social determinants of health throughout the country,” said Maurice A. Jones, LISC president and CEO. LISC is in the midst of a 10-year, $10 billion commitment announced in late-2017 to integrate health into its community development activities.
“Especially now, as COVID-19 continues to impact tens of thousands of Americans, it is critical that we invest in ways that build up small businesses, expand jobs, eliminate racial wealth, health and opportunity gaps, support affordable housing and improve access to healthy food and vital medical care,” he added.
Dr. Cole’s current work runs the gamut from developing health equity plans for underserved communities to building solutions to address substance abuse and support behavioral health and maternity care. Before joining CommonSpirit this year, she was chief community impact officer with Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C. Earlier in her career, she served as medical director for Carolinas Health Associates’ Center for Family Health Care, in Union, S.C.
“I’m excited to be working with LISC because the circumstances that create disparities related to race, class, gender and geography, are solvable—if we have the will and the capital to invest in healthier communities,” said Dr. Cole.
She pointed to extensive research that details how social and economic factors connect directly to a person’s overall health and longevity. “If you don’t have a safe place to live, or the ability to earn enough to support your family, or access to good schools for your kids or healthy food for your dinner table, it will have an effect on your life prospects, including your health,” she explained. “If we want our country to be healthier, we need to invest in things that we know make a difference.”
For more on LISC’s board of directors, click here. And learn more about LISC’s 10-year health commitment here.
About LISC
With residents and partners, LISC forges resilient and inclusive communities of opportunity across America – great places to live, work, visit, do business and raise families. Since 1979, LISC has invested $22 billion to build or rehab more than 419,000 affordable homes and apartments and develop 70.3 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. For more, visit www.lisc.org.