Michael T. Pugh, LISC president and CEO, answered eight questions for Affordable Housing Finance about his top priorities for the organization, the lessons he learned as a bank teller, and the very best advice he ever got (bonus point: it's good advice for everyone).
The excerpt below was originally published by Affordable Housing Finance:
Pop Quiz With Michael T. Pugh
By Donna Kimura, Affordable Housing Finance
Michael T. Pugh was named CEO of the Local Initiatives Support Corp. (LISC), one of the nation’s largest community development organizations, last year.
He brings to the role more than 30 years of banking experience, with a focus on expanding access to capital for underserved families, businesses, and communities. Pugh joins LISC after serving as president and CEO of Carver Bancorp, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded African-American-operated bank.
Share with us a meaningful experience that you had in your first few months at LISC.
Since joining LISC, I’ve appreciated the opportunity to see, firsthand, the impact our support has directly on individuals and their communities. I recently attended an event in Washington, D.C., celebrating our Entrepreneurs of Color Fund, which deploys small business loans to minority-owned and managed businesses. I had the chance to speak to small business owners from the community and hear about how they have been able to grow their businesses, support their families, and create jobs as a result of LISC’s investment.
Over the course of my career, one goal I’ve consistently worked toward is helping create an equal and level playing field in terms of access to capital. People in underserved communities have been excluded from the traditional banking system for decades. It’s so important to play even a small part in these entrepreneurs’ success, and I look forward to continued conversations and investments in people like the ones I met in D.C.
What changes will be coming to LISC’s affordable housing work?
We don’t anticipate changes as much as adjustments based on the shifting economic needs of the communities we work with. We’re focused on supporting underserved communities as they face ongoing challenges, including inflation, rising interest rates, and increased housing costs. We will continue to innovate solutions to address these issues. This includes prioritizing our climate by financing sustainable, green construction and rehabilitation, which makes for lower operating costs and has been proven to boost health outcomes for residents and entire neighborhoods.
One of the ways we do this is by building and retrofitting affordable housing with an eye toward resident health, energy efficiency, and the resiliency that minimizes disruptions from climate-change impacts, and we plan to expand upon this work next year.
You rose from bank teller to bank president. What did you learn from being a bank teller, and how did that early job shape your career?
When I was a bank teller—back before the digital banking age—everyone would go to the brick-and-mortar banks. Every day, I had the unique opportunity to speak with members of my community, ask questions, and learn more about their lives and their needs.
I learned that what might be helpful for one person may not be helpful for the next person. Whether I realized it at that point or not, that’s when I discovered the importance of understanding communities in order to provide solutions that were specific to them and their needs.