The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) today announced that Denise Scott, a national leader in community development and fierce advocate for social and racial equity, will serve as its new president. Scott has served as LISC’s executive vice president for programs since 2014, overseeing 39 local program offices and nine national programs.
Lisa Glover, a former banking executive and long-time LISC board member, will continue to lead the organization as interim CEO. She has served as interim chief executive officer since February.
They are the first women to hold the top leadership positions at LISC, one of the nation’s largest community development organizations.
“Denise and Lisa are proven leaders who reflect the tremendous diversity of talent at LISC,” said Robert E. Rubin, LISC chairman. “Together, they will manage the significant expansion LISC has seen in recent years, while continuing to strengthen the organization’s capacity to address racial and socio-economic disparities throughout the country.”
Scott, who joined LISC in 2001, brings deep experience in the philanthropic, finance and public policy sectors to her new position. She previously served as executive director of LISC New York City, LISC’s largest local program, which has invested more than $3 billion in underserved communities since 1980. She currently serves as chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
“Denise has broken new ground in community development and at LISC for many years,” Rubin noted. “She has led our core work in communities, represented LISC’s interest with capital providers and policymakers, and helped develop our national strategies to advance equity and inclusion. She will continue to be a dynamic leader for LISC long into the future.”
Before joining LISC, Scott held leadership positions at the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Housing Coordination. She led numerous community-based housing and economic development initiatives, including serving as director of the New York City Department of Housing and Development’s Harlem Neighborhood Preservation Program office.
“I’m truly honored to serve as president of LISC and to work closely with Lisa to deepen LISC’s impact in urban and rural communities,” said Scott. “There is no other community development organization in the country that has LISC’s local capacity to break down race and class barriers and create new pathways to opportunity for those who have been excluded from our nation’s prosperity. I can’t think of a time when this work has been more important—for families, for communities and for our national economic outlook.”
Glover has worked with LISC for the last 15 years as a member of the LISC national board and as chair of the LISC Milwaukee local advisory committee. She spent more than 33 years leading management initiatives at U.S. Bank before coming out of retirement to take on the role of interim CEO. She will continue in that role over the next year and will focus on building LISC’s organizational capacity to sustain its significant growth, with a particular eye toward managing operations in a post-pandemic environment.
“We are grateful to Lisa for putting her retirement on hold to help us implement a new senior management structure with both a CEO and a president,” Rubin said. “This structure allows us to better direct an increasingly complex organization and efficiently meet the needs of the communities where we work.” Glover’s permanent successor is expected to be selected by the end of 2022.
Glover said LISC’s growth reflects the organization’s long history of outreach and impact, including a record $2 billion in community investments during 2020. “We are working with a broader range of funders and investors than at any time in our history, and we are rapidly deploying capital in ways that even a few years ago would have seemed impossible,” she explained.
“I am excited that Denise is stepping into this new leadership position,” she added. “Together, we will support LISC’s remarkable staff as we continue to innovate and grow and at the same time efficiently manage the interconnected aspects of our work.”
Ellen Gilligan, a LISC board member and president of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation, said the team of Glover and Scott will support the creativity of LISC’s staff and their community partners as well.
“As CEO, Lisa will reinforce LISC’s financial and organizational management systems, while continuing to advance core community investment strategies,” she explained. “And, as president, Denise will drive the primacy of LISC’s local program approach, as well as innovation around urgent issues like affordable housing and wealth and income inequality, for which she has long been a leading national voice.
“At a time when much of the country is navigating a new normal and underserved communities, in particular, are facing significant challenges, this leadership team will be a source of constancy and experience,” she said. “It will serve our partners, funders and investors well.”
For a joint blog from Lisa Glover and Denise Scott, visit https://www.lisc.org/our-stories/story/look-forward/
For more on LISC’s leadership team, visit https://www.lisc.org/about-us/lisc-leadership/
About LISC
LISC is one 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, LISC has invested $24 billion to create more than 436,320 affordable homes and apartments and develop 74.4 million square feet of retail, community and educational space. For more, visit www.lisc.org.
