A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley and Harvard Law School, Sandy Rosenblith has devoted her career to pursuing social justice by supporting comprehensive, resident-led development in distressed rural and urban communities. Currently, she consults and serves as part-time director of Stand Up for Rural America, an initiative to help rural communities and community developers gain the attention, resources and policy support their work deserves, with a network of better than 2,000 nonprofit members. Sandy has worked as a trainer, technical assistance provider, program developer, project and business packager, policy designer, fundraiser, author, editor and advocate. She has a deep understanding of the community development process having worked directly for comunity development corporations (CDCs) their intermediary supporters, funders, academic institutions evaluating their work and government at all levels.
In nearly three decades with the largest private community development intermediary, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), starting as a program officer and finishing as a senior vice president, she started, secured resources for and managed urban and rural programs providing training, technical assistance, information, capacity building and technical assistance grants, low cost loans and access to equity for CDCs. Early on, she directed programs in Washington, DC, Baltimore and Greater Miami and assisted the South Bronx program. Later, she created the Mid-South Delta program and designed and managed the national Rural LISC program.
Her work in public policy include participating in the federal financial regulatory agencies' staff task force writing the first Community Reinvestment Act regulations, work that earned her the Special Achievement Award from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board: formulating and helping enact one of the first Documentary Surtax laws, funding affordable housing in Dade County; designing and helping implement the Rural Home Loan Partnership resulting in a set-aside of USDA 502 direct loan monies for CDC clients; and passing and funding the Rural Community Development Initiative, the first capacity building program for nonprofit develoeprs in USDA.
Sandy currently sits on the board of the Food Coop Initiative and the Steering Committees of the National Rural Assembly and Stand Up for Rural America. She was a founding board member of The Center for Rural Strategies and the MACE Endowment Fund. The most recent of her many awards was induction into the Pathstone Advocacy Hall of Fame.
In nearly three decades with the largest private community development intermediary, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), starting as a program officer and finishing as a senior vice president, she started, secured resources for and managed urban and rural programs providing training, technical assistance, information, capacity building and technical assistance grants, low cost loans and access to equity for CDCs. Early on, she directed programs in Washington, DC, Baltimore and Greater Miami and assisted the South Bronx program. Later, she created the Mid-South Delta program and designed and managed the national Rural LISC program.
Her work in public policy include participating in the federal financial regulatory agencies' staff task force writing the first Community Reinvestment Act regulations, work that earned her the Special Achievement Award from the Federal Home Loan Bank Board: formulating and helping enact one of the first Documentary Surtax laws, funding affordable housing in Dade County; designing and helping implement the Rural Home Loan Partnership resulting in a set-aside of USDA 502 direct loan monies for CDC clients; and passing and funding the Rural Community Development Initiative, the first capacity building program for nonprofit develoeprs in USDA.
Sandy currently sits on the board of the Food Coop Initiative and the Steering Committees of the National Rural Assembly and Stand Up for Rural America. She was a founding board member of The Center for Rural Strategies and the MACE Endowment Fund. The most recent of her many awards was induction into the Pathstone Advocacy Hall of Fame.
