Bay Area LISC Leading Innovation in Neighborhood Turnaround; National Symposium on Outlook for Low-Income Communities Spotlights Richmond

SAN FRANCISCO, March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Community leaders' work in Richmond will be featured this week as a national model for responding to some of the toughest social and economic conditions.  Stephanie Forbes, Executive Director of Bay Area Local Initiatives Support Corporation (Bay Area LISC), will join Kathleen Sebelius, U.S. Secretary for Health and Human Services; Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council; Former Gov. Ed Rendell of Pennsylvania; and Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento at a conference in Washington, D.C. on addressing the challenging quality of life issues in many of the countries most distressed neighborhoods.  

Forbes will be joined by community leaders from Richmond to highlight their successful and innovative work with a neighborhood turnaround initiative in the city's Nystrom neighborhood at the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) 30th Anniversary Leadership Symposium and Gala, a national gathering of thought leaders on community development.

Members of the media are invited to attend. The event is also being live streamed at http://www.lisc.org/section/events/30th_anniversary/live_streaming.

The session highlighting Bay Area LISC's work in Richmond will take place on Thursday, March 24, from 11:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. (PDT)/ 2:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (EDT). The Richmond work has national implications for how communities come together to jointly solve tough problems involving safety, schools, play spaces, and healthy food access.      

For more information, visit http://www.lisc.org/section/events/30th_anniversary/agenda.

About LISC

LISC works to transform communities into good places to live, work, and play.  The organization provides information, expert advice and assistance, and financing to help communities effect the changes they want. As part of its work, LISC combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources; since 1980, LISC has raised $11.1 billion to build or rehab 277,000 affordable homes and develop 44 million square feet of retail, community and educational space nationwide. LISC support has leveraged nearly $33.9 billion in total development activity.  For more information, visit www.lisc.org.

SOURCE Local Initiatives Support Corporation