Delta Diamond Ag stores and handles grains, a critical service for helping farmers bring their crops successfully to market. With a $500,000 loan from LISC’s Black Economic Development Fund, this rare African-American-owned facility is poised to change agriculture in the Delta. In recognition of Black History Month, we’re sharing this conversation with CEO Leigh Allen about how the company can serve area growers and the larger community, the importance of African-American representation in the agricultural supply chain, and his own deep affection for Delta farming.

In recognition of Black History Month, we’d like you to meet four organizations that, through support from LISC and the Black Economic Development Fund, are creating housing, employment and other economic opportunities in the neighborhoods that need them the most.

In honor of Black History Month, LISCers with Black/African American roots discussed how their heritage intersects with their commitment to addressing racial and other systemic inequities. Check out the videos below to hear what they had to say.

By Connie Max, Executive Vice President, Lending

As Black History Month draws to a close, Connie Max, executive vice president of LISC Lending, examines how the time-worn structures of borrowing must change if we are ever to narrow the racial wealth gap and see our national economy truly flourish. Nothing less than authentic inclusion and full participation of all people will work—and LISC has some strategies for how to make that happen.

In honor of Black History Month, we are reflecting on the extraordinary and deeply influential life of Franklin Thomas, founding leader of Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corp—the country’s first CDC—the first Black man to head the Ford Foundation, and the original architect of LISC. His dedication to helping revitalize neighborhoods by putting people and communities front and center shaped our field and the places we call home today.

As part of our Black History Month commemoration, we are profiling Black Americans whose insights and accomplishments inform and guide the work LISC and the entire community development field pursue today.

by Dominic Braham

In recognition of Black History Month, LISC Phoenix program officer Dominic Braham reflects on the African-American history of his city, and how the influence of a historic “dividing line” between downtown and the redlined neighborhoods of South Phoenix still shapes its communities. Developing local leadership of color, connecting people with the region’s prosperity, and committing to racial equity as the city develops, he explains, are keys to authentic civic engagement and a more inclusive Phoenix. Photo courtesy of InSite Consultants.