Low Income Investment Fund

The Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF) is a nonprofit community development financial institution (CDFI) that mobilizes capital and partners to achieve opportunity, equity and well-being for people and communities.

LIIF innovates financial solutions that center racial equity to create more equitable outcomes for all by building and preserving affordable homes, quality educational opportunities from early childhood through higher education, health clinics, healthy food retail and community facilities. In this way, LIIF provides a bridge between private capital markets and communities.

Read LIIF’s Mission & Vision
Read about LIIF’s History

LIIF’s investments save low income families money on household expenses by increasing the availability of affordable housing and child care. By supporting high-quality educational opportunities from early childhood through high school, LIIF also improves the life outcomes of low income youth, leading to higher lifetime earning potential and lower costs to society on adult social services. In this way, LIIF has created billions of dollars in benefits to low income households and to society.

Read more about LIIF’s impact

LIIF has set a ten-year goal to drive $5 billion in investments to advance racial equity.

We believe that every person and family, no matter their race or ZIP code, deserves to live in a community of opportunity, equity and well-being. We are focused on combating inequitable systems through our four-year strategic plan and are committed to long-term systems change in the decades to follow.

To accomplish this, LIIF is intentionally centering racial equity in its work, both internally and externally, in order to break down barriers that disproportionately impact communities of color, especially Black communities. LIIF’s investments will ensure more people and families can access important foundational assets such as affordable housing, high-quality educational opportunities, the ability to live healthy and active lives and good jobs.

Learn more about LIIF’s ten-year goal in Mobilizing Capital to Build Communities of Opportunity, Equity and Well-Being, our four-year strategic plan.

A community development financial institution (CDFI) is a private sector, financial intermediary with community development as its primary mission. CDFIs can be nonprofit or for-profit organizations. A CDFI provides capital for low income communities and individuals who cannot access the services offered by traditional financial institutions such as banks and credit unions. LIIF was one of the first CDFIs certified by the US Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund.

For more information about CDFIs, visit the CDFI Fund website or learn about Opportunity Finance Network , a leading national network of CDFIs.

LIIF has provided support in 26 states, but the majority of LIIF’s work has been on the East and West Coasts and supported by our offices in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. These regional areas comprise nearly 20% of the nation’s total poverty population and have some of the highest cost of living in the country. LIIF also opened an office in Washington, DC to grow its national impact through federal public policy efforts.

LIIF was founded with a focus on affordable housing because the lack of affordable housing is a powerful contributor to families’ inability to escape from poverty. Since then, LIIF has broadened its vision to include support for other aspects of community development that help people lift themselves out of poverty. LIIF now invests in Affordable Housing, Child Care, Education, Green Financing, Healthy Food and Transit-Oriented Development as its six core program areas. Together, these programs form a comprehensive approach to community development based on a vision for healthy communities – green, economically vibrant places, where people live, learn and grow to their full potential.

To learn more about our work in all of these areas, read about Our Programs.

LIIF offers a wide range of products, including community capital loans, New Markets Tax Credits, grants and technical assistance. LIIF’s mission-driven approach and market and industry knowledge have distinguished it as a CDFI that creates flexible, affordable financing solutions that work for community organizations and investors.

In late 2020, LIIF entered into a joint venture with Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF) and National Affordable Housing Trust (NAHT). Through this partnership, LIIF will not only be equipped to provide equity for projects and developers, but also development consulting services and expertise that will allow existing clients to expand their capacity. This partnership received the generous support of the SeaChange-Lodestar Fund for Nonprofit Collaboration. For investors of both LIIF and NAHT, the array of impact lending and equity options will allow them to grow their impact—delivering a measurable social impact in addition to a financial impact. More information for developers and investors is available on the NAHT website.

LIIF’s true impact comes through the stories about the places and people we support. Read about Our Projects to review to learn more about our work, our dedicated community partners and investors and the inspiring people we serve.

No, LIIF does not lend money to individuals for private purposes.

No, LIIF provides grants to support organizations in its child care, green financing and healthy food programs on a limited basis. In select areas, LIIF does provide grants to family child care providers serving low income children in California.

LIIF’s supporters include leading public entities, private financial and philanthropic organizations, and individuals who share LIIF’s commitment to lift families out of poverty and build safe, healthy communities. View a list of LIIF’s supporters

An investment in LIIF serves the significant unmet demand for flexible, affordable capital in low income communities. LIIF relies on organizations and people who share our vision of ensuring all communities can participate in the economic mainstream. Among the ways to support LIIF’s poverty alleviation work are direct loans, partnerships through loan participations or structured funds or grant contributions. LIIF is a private, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization under the section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Read more about why and how to support LIIF.