Michelle DeSilva comes to CLF with experience in investments, nonprofits, philanthropy and the environment. She started her career in investments at Fidelity Investments and Thomson Reuters, and directed an angel investing firm in the Midwest. Michelle later worked extensively with community foundations in strategy and branding, and advising financial advisors, estate planning attorneys and their… Continue reading Michelle DeSilva
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to our waste crisis. Getting to zero waste means using all the tools in the toolbox. Bottle bills and producer responsibility for packaging laws happen to be two of our best tools, so let’s use them both.
CLF’s unique social investment funds flip that script. With our business, philanthropic, and community partners, we have created a national model for ensuring that change is led by the people already living in a neighborhood, united by a common vision for their future.
In the heart of Providence’s South Side, work is underway to transform a historic building into a vibrant community food hub. As one of the inaugural investments of CLF’s Healthy Retail and Commerce Fund, it will also showcase the power of social impact investing in supporting healthy, livable neighborhoods.
HealthScore is a screening tool that offers a holistic and actionable vision for healthy, inclusive, and sustainable housing and mixed-use development. CLF uses HealthScore to understand neighborhood context and screen potential investments for its Healthy Neighborhoods Equity Fund. Our scorecard is a model for how to measure and track the ways that real estate development… Continue reading HealthScore Metrics
We must learn as a people to protect not only ourselves and the environment but also to fight another form of systemic and institutional racism that is killing us all – environmental racism.
“Small businesses that serve low-income communities have been left to fend for themselves for too long,” said Darrèll Brown, vice president and director of CLF Rhode Island. “SCLT’s tireless work to make healthy food available to these neighborhoods is absolutely a mission worth supporting. This investment will lead to healthier communities throughout Rhode Island, which is a win for everyone.”
“It’s so important that local businesses serving low-income and minority communities have access to affordable financing,” said Maggie Super Church, Vice President of Healthy and Resilient Communities at CLF. “Stop and Compare provides healthy and affordable food to communities sorely lacking these critical resources, and this loan ensures that more Lynn residents will now benefit from everything this store has to offer.”
Residents tell us of a stark contrast between lower-income neighborhoods and those of their wealthier neighbors: Trees. WIthout greenery, heat absorption by concrete is abundant.
“We aren’t just seeing moves. We’re seeing forced moves that are caused by social and economic forces which create ripple effects in communities,” said Reann Gibson, Senior Research Fellow at Conservation Law Foundation and manager of the Healthy Neighborhoods Study. “It’s so important to listen to residents to deepen our understanding of their lived experiences, to identify the data that best captures those experiences, and to interpret the findings in a way that truly demonstrates the impact of displacement on health and wellbeing. We must now use this data to enact real change in these neighborhoods.”
