Nadia Villagrán Named to Lead Rural LISC, Fuel New Investments in Housing, Economic Development, Jobs
With deep personal and professional experience in rural community development, Villagrán, a veteran LISC staffer, will build on nearly 30 years of Rural LISC investments in affordable housing, workforce development, economic growth and culture.
NEW YORK, March 26, 2024—The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has named Nadia Villagrán, a long-time rural development leader, to helm Rural LISC, a national program that has invested more than $2.75 billion in the well-being of thousands of rural communities.
Villagrán joined Rural LISC in 2017 and has since managed a range of programs and operations, including fund development, strategic partnerships and communications. She has served as interim Rural LISC director since January.
She now takes charge of the highly successful program as LISC vice president and will oversee investments in affordable housing, workforce development, financial literacy, digital equity, small businesses, health, disaster recovery and other core aspects of rural community development.
“LISC has made a significant commitment to the well-being of rural communities,” said Michael Pugh, LISC president and CEO. “To drive that work, we need someone who is just as committed to rural impact, with the expertise, experience and relationships needed to drive lasting progress. Nadia has all of that and more. We are lucky to have her leading our team,” he said.
Villagrán said her motivation for this work is both personal and professional. She grew up in a small town in southern Arizona where her parents, both immigrants, helped build their family home through the USDA’s Mutual Self-Help Housing program. The program provides mortgage assistance to residents with low and very-low incomes who invest “sweat equity" in the construction of their home and those of their neighbors. That opportunity was transformative for her family, Villagrán said, and she has focused her career on opening doors for others to thrive as well. (Read more about her story.)
“Rural LISC is an amazing team of people working with and through nonprofit partners, funders, and policymakers to directly invest in the well-being of families and communities,” she explained. “And, just as importantly, we are building the capacity of rural organizations and local leaders as they collaborate on plans to fuel local growth.”
In addition to raising private-sector resources, she said it is critical to make sure rural communities are poised and ready to access public programs meant to support social and economic gains across the country—programs that often bypass small towns and farming communities, Villagrán continued.
“We want to help rural communities maximize the impact of historic levels of federal funding for infrastructure projects like broadband, affordable housing and greenhouse gas reduction,” she explained. “We want to help them invest in innovation and build economic resiliency for the future.”
Before joining LISC, Villagrán spent 13 years in various roles at Coachella Valley Housing Coalition, a nonprofit community development organization in Southern California. There, she led development activity, directed resident services and, eventually, managed day-to-day operations for the organization, which has partnered with more than 3,000 families to build self-help houses. She began her career as a reporter for The Desert Sun, a daily newspaper serving the Coachella Valley region.
“Nadia has a unique mix of skills developed through on-the-ground work with partners in rural communities,” said Madeline Fraser Cook, LISC’s senior vice president of community building and resilient solutions. “She has managed a diverse set of projects and programs, supported key policy campaigns, collaborated with funders to provide access to capital for impactful projects, and drawn on her lived experience to inform solutions to complex community development challenges. Nadia knows our partners better than anyone, has their trust, and is well-positioned to lead our rural work in the months and years to come,” she added.
Villagrán is based in Indio, Calif., and leads a Rural LISC team that includes more than 20 staffers working across the country. She can be reached at nvillagran@lisc.org.
About LISC
LISC is one of the country’s largest community development organizations, helping forge vibrant, resilient communities across America. We work with residents and partners to close systemic gaps in health, wealth and opportunity and advance racial equity so that people and places can thrive. Since our founding in 1979, LISC has invested $29.7 billion to create more than 489,000 affordable homes and apartments, develop 81.4 million square feet of retail, community and educational space and help tens of thousands of people find employment and improve their finances. For more, visit www.lisc.org.
About Rural LISC
Launched in 1995, Rural LISC provides a wide range of capital and services to nearly 150 rural organizations in 49 states and Puerto Rico, including capacity-building grants, loans and equity investments, training and technical assistance and public policy advocacy. Rural LISC investments have supported 55,194 affordable homes and apartments, 8.9 million square feet of commercial, community and athletic space, 2,867 businesses, 23,760 jobs and 20 early childhood centers. There are also 20 rural-based LISC Financial Opportunity Centers providing financial counseling, education, training and other employment services to thousands of residents. For more, visit, www.lisc.org/rural/
