Rural LISC Mission
With residents and partners, Rural LISC supports resilient and inclusive rural communities as great places to live, learn, work, and innovate. Rural LISC strives to identify priorities and opportunities and deliver the most appropriate support to meet local needs. We achieve this through a comprehensive, integrated approach to programmatic areas focused around Creative Capital, Broadband + Digital Inclusion, Workforce + Financial Prosperity, Housing, and Disaster Solutions.
What is Rural LISC?
In 1995, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a community development support organization working in metropolitan areas across the country, launched Rural LISC, a national program created to expand LISC's reach beyond urban areas to include rural communities. Today, Rural LISC partners with more than 150 rural community-based organizations to help identify challenges and opportunities in delivering supportive services to meet local needs. Together we are working to transform communities in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Guam – covering more than 2,400 counties.
Recognizing that rural communities' needs are not focused on agriculture alone, Rural LISC provides a wide range of services, including training, technical assistance, information and financial support, to help rural community developers address the problems rural communities face. We use our Comprehensive Community Development Strategy to support our partners in expanding investment in housing and real estate, increasing family income and wealth, stimulating economic development, improving access to quality education, and growing healthy environments and lifestyles.
Our News & Stories
East Texas Council of Governments regional Broadband Initiative update
ETCOG is making significant progress toward enhancing broadband access in East Texas. We anticipate receiving final approval this week for our Tier D and E license, officially enabling us to participate in the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program challenge process. Our team is actively collaborating with the Dallas Federal Reserve’s BBI program, Rural LISC, Communities Unlimited, and DETCOG to advance broadband projects across the region. We are also working to secure Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding for two counties that meet Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI) criteria, ensuring more equitable access to broadband.
Go Forward Pine Bluff Hosts #RuralTalks Leaders
Go Forward Pine Bluff recently hosted a delegation of leaders from the Rural Local Initiatives Support Corporation. The delegation included participants from Rural LISC's 2024 seminar, representing national funding organizations, grantees and grantors who arrived in Pine Bluff on a bus tour for a look at GFPB's efforts. Ryan Watley, CEO of Go Forward Pine Bluff, provided an overview of the organization's initiatives, emphasizing the collaboration between public and private entities. "This visit underscores the progress we've made in our mission to reimagine Pine Bluff," said Watley. "We are honored to host Rural LISC and share the tangible results of our work with such an influential audience. Their engagement reinforces the importance of partnerships and investments in sustainable, community-centered solutions."
The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation and LISC Award $1.7 Million to Upgrade Under-Resourced Community Sporting Spaces in 20 Cities and Towns
LISC and The DICK’S Sporting Goods Foundation announced grant recipients from the second round of the Game On-Community Places to Play Initiative. Twenty communities across the country will use $1.7 million in grants to fund renovation of facilities for basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, football, tennis, lacrosse, and volleyball.
Bloomberg Spotlights MacKenzie Scott’s $65 Million Donation to LISC
An article in Bloomberg highlights MacKenzie Scott’s recent unrestricted grant-making to nonprofits, including a $65 million gift to LISC. Unrestricted gifts like this, in addition to Scott’s 2020 donation of $40 million, allow LISC to intensify and build upon its work with a more flexible and innovative approach. As our CEO Michael Pugh noted to Bloomberg, “the ability to have unrestricted giving like this frankly allows us to unlock and tap into the American Dream for everyday Americans across our country.”