Stories
What Revitalization Without Displacement Can Look Like
A new research paper offers compelling “proof of concept” of how LISC’s strategy, and our collaborations with anchor institutions, are transforming communities in ways that benefit current residents. LISC CEO Maurice A. Jones explains how the study, centered on the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis, illuminates how anchors can engage with neighbors to promote inclusivity in their backyards and ensure that local voices are listened to—over the long haul.
Investing in Immigrant Communities = Investing in America
A new LISC white paper examines the ways current federal immigration policy is affecting immigrant residents across the country, and how our nonprofit partners are responding to meet the needs, and address the fear, of immigrants and their families. In the blog below, LISC CEO Maurice A. Jones and David Greenberg, our head of research and lead author of the report, weigh in on why supporting the wellbeing and prosperity of immigrant communities—and of the agencies that serve them—is in every American’s best interest.
SSIR: Groundbreaking study looks at how neighborhood networks anchor community gains
In this week’s Stanford Social Innovation Review, LISC CEO Maurice A. Jones takes a close look at the outcomes from one of the largest single-city community development efforts in the country, the decade-long New Communities Program (NCP) in Chicago. Most notable, Jones writes, is data on community networks and how closely they connect to local growth and opportunity. The evidence confirms what community developers have long assumed but previously never proven: a durable local infrastructure of nonprofits, businesses, and other stakeholders is able to both attract and absorb capital in ways that measurably improve residents’ quality of life.
It’s Time to Raise the Bar for Community Development
Let’s ask ourselves: what could the 43 million Americans living in poverty accomplish if they had a plausible path to the middle class? How much more competitive would our country be if we unleashed the full economic potential of every neighborhood and community. During my first few weeks as LISC CEO, I have had the privilege of seeing my team working with organizations and individuals across the country in pursuit of these aspirations.