Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Local Initiatives Support Corporation (doing business as Local Initiatives Support Corp), a New York-based tax-exempt nonprofit community development organization, serves as a federal grant recipient providing community development, affordable housing, workforce training, and technical assistance services to multiple federal agencies. The organization operates exclusively as a prime grant recipient and sub-recipient; it holds no federal contracts and participates in no federal contract vehicles. LISC received $872.5 million in combined federal grant obligations across 189 recent awards, with 82 percent as prime recipient and 18 percent as sub-recipient.

LISC's customer concentration is heavily weighted toward HUD's Community Planning and Development programs. The top five funding agencies account for 67 percent of recent awards. The Department of Housing and Urban Development's Assistant Secretary for Community Planning and Development leads by award count with 59 awards, followed by the Department of the Treasury's Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (25 awards), the Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service (23 awards), the Department of Agriculture's Rural Housing Service (11 awards), and the Corporation for National and Community Service's Office of Grants Management (8 awards). HUD funding spans multiple program vehicles including Community Compass Technical Assistance and Capacity Building cooperative agreements, Section 4 Capacity Building for Community Development and Affordable Housing grants, and Economic Development Initiative grants.

As a prime recipient, LISC executes substantial multi-year federal programs. Representative grants include a $9.4 million AmeriCorps State and National award (CFDA 94.006) running through August 2029 to recruit, train, and manage AmeriCorps members serving community-based organizations nationwide; a $20 million Department of Education Credit Enhancement for Charter School Facilities grant (CFDA 84.354) through September 2050 establishing the "DREAM BIG Fund" to provide credit enhancement services strengthening charter schools' access to facility financing; a $4 million Department of Labor Growth Opportunities Project award (CFDA 17.265) running through December 2026 serving justice-involved young adults in Minnesota, Indiana, Texas, and Michigan through four sub-grantees; and a $5.21 million SBA Community Navigator Pilot Program grant (CFDA 59.077) that concluded in November 2023, supporting small business technical assistance through ten sub-awardees. LISC also acts as an intermediary capacity-builder, providing training and technical assistance to other nonprofits and local grantees under Department of Justice grants including a $1 million Rural Violent Crime Initiative cooperative agreement (2021–2024) supporting twenty rural law enforcement and prosecution entities across eight states, and multiple Bureau of Justice Assistance cooperative agreements supporting community violence intervention training and school safety initiatives.

In its sub-recipient role, LISC implements SNAP Employment and Training programs under repeated non-compete awards from the Rhode Island Department of Human Services spanning 2021 to present, and participates in state-administered Health Equity Zones initiatives under the Rhode Island Department of Health. LISC also operates as a sub-recipient on lead abatement contractor licensing and training programs under state environmental health initiatives.

Award velocity has grown moderately over the past five years—from 16 awards in 2022 to a peak of 26 in 2024—before declining to 10 awards in 2025 and 1 in the current fiscal year through July 2026. Seventeen awards (combined value undisclosed in the source) carry ultimate completion dates within the next twenty-four months, representing a recompete opportunity window. LISC's grant portfolio is predominantly domestic, with work performed nationwide across urban, rural, and tribal communities. The organization's primary focus on community development, affordable housing finance, workforce development, and capacity-building technical assistance to nonprofits and state/local grantees differentiates it from federal contractors; its role as a grant recipient and intermediary rather than a service provider to agencies positions it outside the traditional federal contracting footprint.