LISC’s Local Advisory Committees (LACs) serve as guides and champions for the organization’s many local offices and rural program. Women leaders from the finance, philanthropy, government and community development worlds bring a special—and especially important—set of skills and insights to this critical, behind-the-scenes part of our work to strengthen communities.

Fewer than 2% of plumbers are women, but Anna Hall, the president of P&H Divine Plumbing in Chicago, is a barrier-breaking entrepreneur in the field. The first female plumber to work for the city’s Department of Water Management, Hall started her company to employ more people who looked like her and serve communities other contractors often avoided. Now, with an investment from LISC Fund Management’s Diverse Supplier Grant Initiative, sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Hall is realizing her vision for growing Divine Plumbing. Meet her and learn more in the video below!

To close out Women's History Month, we were honored to host a deeply personal and wide-ranging conversation with LISC staff and partners about women as the backbone of their communities and local economies, in large part because they are caretakers (of children and others, both within and beyond the family), and the imperative of systems change, solidarity and self-care. As LISC's Nicole Barcliff put it, "you can't think about a community thriving in a holistic manner without thinking about the role of women, and investing in women."

As part of our commemoration of women’s history this month, LISC looks at the work and legacy of Ruth Nazario, a crusader for affordable housing preservation and community control in New York City’s Lower East Side. Her tenacity and devotion to her neighbors was matched by her prescience: Nazario knew speculation and gentrification would eventually come to a neighborhood that capital had abandoned—and promoted resident ownership as a means to forestall it.

By Anna Smukowski, LISC Investor Relations & Capital Strategies

As part of our blog series on how LISC investments dovetail with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, it's only fitting that we would zero in this Women's History Month on the gender equality goal. Gender Lens Investing is a strategic approach to financing that is of particular importance for the CDFI world. Read on to see how it is guiding our work and the projects we support.

By Cindy Larson & Bevin Parker-Cerkez

LISC and Procter & Gamble are partnering on a new grant program that will help child care providers in three states grow their businesses—particularly those led by women of color. On International Women’s Day, we are celebrating these investments in equity, family stability and vibrant community-based enterprises, all contributing to strong local economies.

In honor of Women's History Month, we profiled some of the extraordinary women who conceived and shaped our current community development, social justice and anti-racist movements. Their stories may not be widely known, but they should be. And their intelligence, insight, passion and unrelenting efforts blazed the path we walk today.

Each month, we pose a question to the OneLISC family, and share the responses reflecting our diverse range of voices and backgrounds. We hope these Reflections from the Field will be a source of inspiration and insight.

In honor of Women's History Month, we are profiling some of the extraordinary women who conceived and shaped our current community development, social justice and anti-racist movements. Their stories may not be widely known, but they should be. And their intelligence, insight, passion and unrelenting efforts blazed the path we walk today.