Social Compact Selects Alyssa Stewart Lee as New Chief Executive Officer

--National Non-Profit Will Expand Information and Analytics Solutions to Drive Investment in Undervalued Communities--

WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Social Compact, a national non-profit organization that helps underserved urban areas develop accurate economic data needed to attract investment, announced today that Alyssa Stewart Lee has been selected as the organization's chief executive officer (CEO).

With the exception of the U.S. Census Bureau, Social Compact is the only organization that conducts original demographic research in major cities across the U.S.  Social Compact's research often identifies Census under-reporting issues and quantifies the purchasing power and stability of urban and micro-markets to support community development and investment.  To date, Social Compact has quantified more than $16 billion in informal economic income and identified 1.25 million more residents than estimated by traditional sources in over 400 urban communities across the country. This information supports improved quality of life in communities by attracting billions of dollars of business investment and creating job opportunities and more focused municipal strategies.

Social Compact, which is supported by leading financial services and technology companies, foundations and cities alike, recently created a pre-development investment fund to "seed" supermarket development that will bring fresh food to underserved markets.

Ms. Lee, 42, joined Social Compact last fall as chief operating officer (COO), and has been acting CEO since January when John Talmage stepped down and became an "at large" consultant to the organization. Ms. Lee is the first African American CEO of Social Compact.

Prior to joining Social Compact, Ms. Lee headed her own financial services firm that helped middle-income consumers become more financially literate. Earlier, she was deputy director of the Brooking Institute's Urban Markets Initiative and an associate in Cushman & Wakefield's Strategic Advisory Group. Ms. Lee holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology and an undergraduate degree from Northwestern University.

"Over the last several months, Alyssa has demonstrated that she is the right person for the job and that she will extend the legacy of enlightened leadership that began with Lynn Riley and was continued most recently by John Talmage," said David Katkov, Chairman of the Board of Social Compact. "Her knowledge and experience in the strategic use of data to impact decision making in both the public and private sectors will advance Social Compact's mission."

"By developing and democratizing information, Social Compact is a catalyst, attracting new investment to revitalize underserved communities," said Ms. Lee. "We must help our clients learn to do more with less and to come up with new solutions that will give both public and private investors the vision they need to see overlooked opportunities and the confidence to act on them."

About Social Compact

Social Compact (www.socialcompact.org) is a non-profit organization that breaks down barriers to public investments in underserved urban areas. Since its founding in 1990, the organization has become a powerful force for change in overlooked urban markets by delivering the reliable, representative, and up-to-the-minute information about a community's economic health needed to make critically important investments possible and partnering with investors, municipalities, and community leaders to leverage this valuable information in the decision-making process

SOURCE Social Compact