In a wide-ranging conversation with Eve Picker, founder of Small Change, a social impact/real estate crowdfunding platform, LISC’s COO Annie Donovan describes how her childhood experiences growing up in a working class community in Pittsburgh shaped the trajectory of a life working for equitable development, and what she believes will push the field to have greater impact. She shares her views, honed through years of CDFI experience, on the imperative of seeking funding beyond the world of banks, upending the barriers of racism, and ensuring that community forces are an integral part of planning and revitalization.
The excerpt below was originally published by Eve Picker:
The world beyond banks.
Annie Donovan knows impact investing. She joined the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) last year, as COO, having built a truly remarkable career in community investment by embracing a pursuit of fairness in economics and finance. She found her way to this mission in part through her roots growing up in a working class family, where she was exposed to ideas of social justice early in life.
After a career working at the national level, she says what attracted her to LISC was its “deep, long-term connection to communities.” Previously, at the CDFI Fund, which provides capital to distressed communities, Annie worked on strategies to address local needs using programs like New Markets Tax Credits, CDFI Bond Guarantee Program, Capital Magnet Fund and the Healthy Food Financing Initiative.