Sonja Dean is the Senior Program Officer for the Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), working out of Kalamazoo. She is an at-large board member representing the whole state.

What is the history/purpose of your organization, in one sentence?

LISC is a national non-profit intermediary, working in Michigan in Kalamazoo, Flint and Detroit, with a mission to work holistically in low to moderate income communities to create neighborhoods of choice, places where people want to live, work, and raise families.

What do you do at your organization?

As the second to longest tenured person on the Michigan LISC staff, I do a bit of everything. I predominately work with our non-profit partners on a range of community development activities, from deployment of financial resources (grants, loans, AmeriCorps, etc.), to technical assistance and capacity building assistance. I also undertake fund development efforts to support LISC’s continuing work in Kalamazoo, including donor cultivation and relations, and philanthropic and corporate grant writing.

Is there anything special we should know about you or your organization?

I believe I speak for myself and LISC in saying we are deeply committed to promoting community development efforts in the cities we serve and to the overall financial success of Michigan’s communities. I am honored to be asked and elected to serve on the CEDAM Board.