LISC

Frequently asked questions

What does LISC fund?

LISC — Local Initiatives Support Corporation — is a national nonprofit community development financial institution that finances affordable housing and broader neighborhood revitalization. It was created in December 1979 from a Ford Foundation initiative and formally announced in May 1980 with a $10 million pool from Ford and corporate partners including Aetna, Atlantic Richfield, Continental Illinois Bank, International Harvester, Levi Strauss, and Prudential. National headquarters are at 28 Liberty Street, Floor 34, New York, NY 10005. Michael T. Pugh became president and chief executive in October 2023 after leading Carver Federal Savings Bank and holding senior roles at Capital One and Citizens. LISC’s public results board reports $1.8 billion in grants, $7 billion in loans, and $29 billion in equity, for $38 billion total investment since 1979 that it says has leveraged about $102 billion in total development. The organization works through local offices in dozens of cities and across more than 2,000 rural counties. Program areas sit on a housing foundation and extend into small business, health, education, public safety, and community facilities. Lending covers predevelopment through permanent financing for multifamily rental, affordable for-sale, and mixed-use projects. Corporate and philanthropic partnership inquiries go to development@lisc.org. Press contacts use press@lisc.org. Affiliates extend the capital stack. National Equity Fund (NEF) is LISC’s LIHTC syndication affiliate. LISC Fund Management runs city and regional housing opportunity funds, including structures in Charlotte and Cleveland that blend public subsidy, bank capital, and mission debt. Broadstreet and other affiliates appear on the national site as part of the investor bridge into under-resourced markets. LISC is both a direct lender and grantmaker and a platform that brings national capital to local community development corporations and mission developers. For Causeartist’s affordable-housing shortlist, LISC is the national CDFI with the deepest local-office network and the parent of NEF’s tax-credit platform. It is not a venture firm. Capital is debt, grants, and tax-credit equity aimed at real estate and community projects.

What is LISC's check size?

$100,000 – $10,000,000

What is LISC's investment thesis?

LISC invests where community organizations and mission developers need flexible capital to build or preserve affordable housing and the neighborhood systems around it. The lending page emphasizes early capital, specialized underwriting for complex housing, school, and health projects, and willingness to work in markets traditional lenders avoid. Local offices underwrite with national balance-sheet support, which is the operating model behind both standard CDFI loans and city housing opportunity funds. Check sizes vary by product and market. City fund materials for Cleveland describe average loans or investments of about $1 million to $5 million per project inside a larger fund raise. The $100,000 to $10 million band on this profile is a planning range for direct project debt and related investments, not a hard product menu. Equity-scale LIHTC tickets usually sit at the NEF affiliate rather than on LISC’s grant and loan lines. Sponsors should contact the relevant local office or the national lending team for current term sheets. Fit is strongest for nonprofit and mission-aligned housing sponsors, CDC-backed projects, mixed-use community developments, and cities assembling blended public-private housing funds. National partnership conversations start with development@lisc.org. Project finance starts on lisc.org/our-model/lending and through local LISC offices.

Which sectors does LISC invest in?

Built Environment, Community Development, Impact Finance