Nation's Leading Community Development Support Organization Names Two New Board Members
14 Aug 2007
Contact:Michael Tang (LISC) |
For Immediate Release:August 14, 2007 |
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, State Farm’s Barbara Cowden join LISC’s board of directors
NEW YORK – Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), the nation’s leading community development support organization, today announced that Roger Goodell and Barbara Cowden have been elected to its national board of directors. Both represent institutions that are among LISC’s most important and consistent funders.
Roger Goodell last year succeeded Paul Tagliabue, also a LISC board member, as commissioner of the National Football League. Goodell, who has worked at the NFL for more than 25 years, has managed a wide array of football and business operations in senior executive roles before being named executive vice president and chief operating officer in 2001. He also serves on the boards of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Big Brothers Big Sisters of New York City, and Action for Healthy Kids. He is an officer of NFL Charities, the league’s charitable foundation.
Since 1998, LISC and the NFL have worked together to create or rehabilitate community playing fields nationwide, typically in neighborhoods where funding sources were few and far between. During that time, the NFL Grassroots program -- funded by the NFL Youth Football Fund (YFF), a $150 million non-profit foundation established by the NFL and the National Football League Players Association -- has provided more than $17 million to help community organizations build, or rebuild, 155 youth fields in more than 40 cities.
Barbara Cowden is executive vice president of the State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company and a member of the board of directors of State Farm Life Insurance Company. She also serves as vice president and secretary of the State Farm Companies Foundation.
Cowden began her career with State Farm in 1980 as an agent in Sonora, Calif. She became an agency manager in Modesto, Calif., in 1983 and was appointed agency director in Rohnert Park, Calif., in 1987. She was named executive assistant – agency at corporate headquarters in 1990 and deputy regional vice president in the Dallas, Texas, office in 1991. She became regional vice president in the Lincoln, Neb., office in 1996 and returned to corporate headquarters in 1998 as senior vice president. She assumed her current position in 2001. Cowden holds the Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation and serves on the boards of the Women’s Museum in Dallas, Texas, the National Council on Economic Education and the National Council of La Raza Corporate Board of Advisors.
Since 2000, State Farm has provided LISC with $24 million in grants and $37 million in loans, making the company one of LISC’s largest corporate sponsors. These funds have helped to create 3.5 million square feet of commercial and community space, and have supported the launching, expansion, and retention of 1,200 neighborhood businesses employing more than 11,900 residents.
“Barbara and Roger will be valuable additions to our national board as we carry on with our strategy of creating sustainable communities,” said Michael Rubinger, LISC’s president and CEO. “Each brings a unique perspective to the business of community development.”
About LISC
LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help community-based organizations revitalize underserved neighborhoods. Since 1980, LISC has raised more than $7.8 billion to build or rehabilitate more than 215,000 affordable homes and develop 30 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. For more information, visit www.lisc.org.
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Article Type: Press Release