Center for Community Investment’s Leadership Development Program Announces 16 Fellows Focused on Resilient, Equitable Communities

16 Professionals Earn Their Place at Leading Systems Change in the Community Investment Field

Washington, DC, June 07, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Center for Community Investment (CCI) at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy is pleased to announce the selection of its fourth cohort of Fulcrum Fellows. These 16 dynamic changemakers will participate in a 15-month action-learning program that aims to help leaders create meaningful systems change through collaboration across silos and sectors. They will also join a network of leaders committed to advancing racial equity and supporting disinvested communities to achieve their environmental, social, and economic priorities.

This year’s Fellows span the country from Vermont to California and Florida to Minnesota, using their work in housing, creative placemaking, philanthropy, and economic and community development to spark more resilient, equitable communities. Over the course of the hands-on, intensive fellowship, Fellows will participate in six multiday seminars and receive regular coaching and staff support as they build their knowledge and skills in community investment, racial equity, and adaptive leadership. Each Fellow will also pursue a meaningful effort in their community that will rely on investment capital to succeed and has the potential to change how the community organizes and deploys community investment.

“The COVID-19 crisis made visible the inequities that have long plagued our nation. As we slowly emerge from the pandemic and face new economic challenges, leaders have a critical opportunity to develop and deploy the community investment and systems change strategies needed to achieve more equitable outcomes. These exceptional Fulcrum Fellows will build their skills in adaptive leadership and community investment and grow their understanding of racial equity, and CCI’s capital absorption framework,” said CCI Executive Director Robin Hacke. “We are incredibly excited to announce this cohort and assist them as they take on some of the biggest challenges facing our communities.”

The 16 fellowship recipients are:

*Shanti Abedin*
Director, Shared Equity Housing 
NeighborWorks America 
Washington, DC

*Tara Agrawal*
Director of Community Investment 
Boston Children’s Hospital
Boston, Massachusetts 

*Oji Alexander *
Executive Director 
Home by Hand Inc.
New Orleans, Louisiana 

*Mileyka Burgos-Flores*
Executive Director 
The Allapatah Collaborative CDC
Miami, Florida

*Rebecca Cordes Chan *
Executive Director 
Friends of the Rail Park
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

*Jorge Damian de la Paz*
Senior Strategist for Government Innovation in the Office of the Mayor
Miami-Dade County
Miami, Florida

*Eliisa Frazier*
Director, Racial Equity & Impact Lending
Low Income Investment Fund
New York, New York

*Jaime Gloshay
*Codirector and Cofounder 
Native Women Lead
Albuquerque, New Mexico

*Keisha González
*Program Director, Economic and Community Development & Social Impact Investing  *
*Cleveland Foundation *
*Cleveland, Ohio

*Lyric Kelkar*
Policy Director 
Inclusive Action for the City
Los Angeles, California

*Seth Leonard
*Managing Director of Community Development 
Vermont Housing Agency
Burlington, Vermont

*Maggie Parker
*Managing Partner 
Innovan Neighborhoods
Dallas, Texas

*Ryan Priester
*Program Officer, Chicago Commitment Team 
MacArthur Foundation
Chicago, Illinois

*Roberto Requejo
*Executive Director 
Elevated Chicago
Chicago, Illinois

*Marcq Sung
*Senior Program Officer 
McKnight Foundation
Minneapolis, Minnesota

*Sasha Werblin
*Senior Program Officer 
LISC
Oakland, California


The Fulcrum Fellowship is one of several CCI programs working to ensure all communities have the capital needed to thrive. To learn more about CCI’s Fulcrum Fellowship, this new cohort, and our first three cohorts of Fellows, visit https://centerforcommunityinvestment.org/fellowship.  

                                                                                 ###


*ABOUT THE CENTER FOR COMMUNITY INVESTMENT * 

The  Center for Community Investment (CCI) at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy works to ensure that all communities, especially those that have suffered from structural racism and policies that have left them economically and socially isolated, can unlock the capital they need to thrive. Our work is supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Kresge Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co, and The California Endowment. centerforcommunityinvestment.org | @C4CInvest  

* *

*ABOUT THE LINCOLN INSTITUTE OF LAND POLICY * 
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy seeks to improve quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land. A nonprofit private operating foundation, the Lincoln Institute researches and recommends creative approaches to land as a solution to economic, social, and environmental challenges. lincolninst.edu | @landpolicy  

CONTACT: Janelle Julien
Center for Community Investment
2404630578
jjulien@centerforcommunitydevelopment.org