Community Wise: A LISC Podcast

In the final episode of 2019, Maurice calls in from Puerto Rico where he is celebrating an exciting initiative, Play Ball Again. In partnership with Marc Anthony’s Maestro Cares Foundation, Bad Bunny’s Good Bunny Foundation, Cubs Charities and Javier Báez, as well as local officials and families, LISC celebrated the opening of a renovated baseball field at Parque de la Comunidad La Ceiba in Loíza, which was demolished by hurricanes in 2017. Play Ball Again aims to restore up to 25 athletic fields and related facilities that will serve 17,500 youth across the island.
Following the discussion of Play Ball Again, Maurice reflects on 2019, the year ahead and the goal we are all tasked with...to make the impossible possible. Thanks for another great year and we hope you will tune in in January!

This month, Maurice sits down with Tope Folarin, LISC’s vice president of storytelling and content and the author of A Particular Kind of Black Man. Listen in to hear how Folarin’s youth and education inspired a career dedicated to storytelling, why sharing stories is so critical to the work of LISC, and how it all connects to his debut novel.

San Antonio, TX councilmember Roberto Treviño joins Maurice and Imani Darden to discuss energy efficiency and affordable housing sustainability. LISC launched its San Antonio office in 2016, the same year Councilman Treviño launched Under 1 Roof, a no-cost, needs-based program to retrofit the roofs of qualified residents.
We are pleased to have a local official with us to share more about the conjoining of community, local politics, energy efficiency and housing stabilization.

We are back this month with Richard Rothstein, author of The Color of Law, a Distinguished Fellow of the Economic Policy Institute and a Senior Fellow, emeritus, at the Thurgood Marshall Institute of the NAACP. In this episode, we delve into the historical context for the work LISC does, through the prism of the book’s major theme: residential racial segregation, which was enforced via federal and local law and policy though much of the 20th century. We explore ways to redress the ills of housing segregation, including the role public and private sectors can play. Richard also gives a glimpse into the next phase of his work, sharing strategies for building a new civil rights movement to remedy these injustices. To our minds, The Color of Law should be required reading in classrooms and workplaces across the country.

Maurice joined the Rail~Volution podcast to talk about LISC’s approach to catalyzing opportunity in the places we work. Covering everything from Opportunity Zones and the Partnership for the Bay’s housing fund, to how health and transit intersect, the conversation highlights how intentional investment is key to transformation.
Learn more about the Rail~Volution podcast here.