LISC has named a prominent local leader with decades of experience in state and local government to take the helm oft its Twin Cities program office. Peter McLaughlin, as the new executive director, will build on more than $700 million in LISC Twin Cities investments over the last 30 years as he leads new efforts to expand economic opportunity throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul.
Peter McLaughlin to head LISC Twin Cities
Long-time county official takes over as executive director of top community investment group
MINNEAPOLIS (May 20, 2019)—A long-time Hennepin County commissioner has been named to lead one of the Twin Cities’ most prolific community development organizations and steer programs focused on affordable housing, economic development, and health throughout the region.
Peter McLaughlin served 28 years on the county board and is now the new executive director of LISC Twin Cities, the local arm of a national nonprofit that has invested more than $700 million to catalyze local opportunities for Twin Cities residents. While representing South and Southeast Minneapolis, McLaughlin helped lead a range of important efforts, including expansion of the region’s transit network, transit-oriented development along emerging light rail lines and community reinvestment programs that spurred new businesses and jobs. His work on multiple community partnerships in the Phillips and Cedar-Riverside Neighborhoods and along the Midtown Greenway were a signature part of his work.
McLaughlin also spent six years as a state representative, leading passage of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program, authoring Minnesota’s first parental leave law, working closely with the Jobs Now Coalition, and advocating for progressive tax policies, including those that helped support affordable housing.
“Peter is a remarkable addition to the LISC family who has spent his career driving efforts to build a broadly shared prosperity throughout the Twin Cities,” said Maurice A. Jones, LISC president and CEO. “His unique experience, both as a public official and in the private sector, will be a great asset to LISC and, even more importantly, to the many communities where we work.”
Early in his career, McLaughlin served as executive director of the Minneapolis Community Business Employment Alliance, working with employers to recruit, train and place unemployed and underemployed residents in quality jobs. He also worked as operations director for the Urban Coalition of Minneapolis and, prior to that, as an aide to then-Mayor Arthur Holland of Trenton, N.J., and to the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.
“If there is a guiding principal for this work, I think it is this: we need our communities to provide opportunities that transcend race and class so that our economy works for everyone,” said McLaughlin. “That’s what LISC does, every day, by collaborating with community groups, lawmakers, business leaders, philanthropic organizations and investors to support a good quality life in neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities.”
McLaughlin has a bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and a master’s from the Humphrey School of the University of Minnesota. In addition to his many professional accomplishments, McLaughlin has volunteered his time with organizations across the city, including as a board member of Powderhorn Residents Group, Centro Cultural Chicano and NACDI.
He can be reached at Twin Cities LISC at 651-265-2292 or pmclaughlin@lisc.org.
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 $20 billion to build or rehab 400,500 affordable homes and apartments and develop 66.8 million square feet of retail, community and educational space.