Episode 15: Maurice Jones: High Impact Investing in Low Wealth Communities

Maurice Jones, President and CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), became involved in community development finance while working for the United States Department of the Treasury and then as trade secretary for the state of Virginia. In the latter job, he says, “I quickly discovered that there were 20% of places that were investment ready and 80% needed a lot more work at the community level to become investment ready. We were focusing on the 20%. I wanted the chance to work on that other 80%. This job at LISC was the perfect place to do that both in urban and rural America.”

In the podcast conversation, Jones (who also is a member of the Rail~Volution Board of Directors) talks about working in communities in different ways, from helping existing businesses to developing a stronger talent base in the workforce . He speaks of LISC’s efforts to break down barriers in certain professions, for example by managing a fund for minority entrepreneurs and helping launch minority property developers. Fundamental to this is acknowledging the history of policies and practices that intentionally excluded certain populations from opportunity. “The only way you’re going to truly address that is to be just as intentional in your approach to investment.”

Jones also delves into Opportunity Zones and discusses the new effort to tackle affordable housing in the Bay Area, launched by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. Listen for his thoughts about the necessary ingredients for such funds and the importance of community buy-in. He also touches on  the intersection of community development and health (“community development is the best medicine around”) and the importance of expanding transit and locating key destinations on existing transit.