Giving: Building Opportunity Through Community Development

For more than 35 years, Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) Indianapolis has worked alongside residents, nonprofits and local partners to strengthen Indianapolis neighborhoods through affordable housing, economic development and community investment. As a community development financial institution (CDFI), LISC connects communities with the funding, expertise and partnerships needed to advance local priorities and create long-term opportunity.

That mission is central to the Emerging Developers Growth Initiative (EDGI), a LISC program designed to support early-career real estate developers – particularly women, minorities and others who have historically faced barriers entering the industry. Through training, professional connections and access to capital, EDGI helps participants build the knowledge and resources needed to move community-centered projects forward.

Building Knowledge, Networks and Confidence

EDGI is a nine-month program that combines classroom instruction, one-on-one technical assistance and networking opportunities with local industry leaders. Participants complete a cohort with 14 curriculum modules led by outside training partners and work directly with architects, engineers, lenders and development professionals throughout the Indianapolis market.

The program also creates opportunities for participants to test and refine their ideas. Midway through the cohort, participants present capstone concepts to lenders and industry professionals for feedback and potential partnership opportunities. The program concludes with a developer deal room, where participants pitch development-ready projects to potential capital partners.

The Opus Foundation has awarded EDGI two grants. In 2024, a one-time $100,000 grant supported training costs for the first cohort. A subsequent two-year $200,000 grant in 2025 supported training costs for a second cohort and will go toward those same costs for a third, which will begin in the fall of 2026.

“It takes a lot of resources to bring a program like this to life,” said Kelsi Coe, Senior Program Officer for Health and Housing with LISC. “It’s incredibly rewarding to see the payoff in real time. The Opus Foundation’s support is an essential factor in that success.”

Kelsi points to participant survey results following each of the first two cohorts. Across both groups, 100% of participants reported increased confidence in navigating the development process, and nearly 90% said they felt more connected to Indianapolis’ real estate ecosystem.

Supporting Long-Term Impact

According to Kelsi, despite the success of EDGI, access to early-stage capital remains one of the largest barriers facing emerging developers.

“These new or smaller developers just don’t have the track record to demonstrate reliability to equity partners,” she said. “We can train them, we can help them get connected in the community, we can vet their ideas, but without capital they can’t get a project built.”

To help overcome this hurdle, the Foundation also provided a $600,000 Program Related Investment (PRI), helping LISC offer flexible financing and 0% interest predevelopment loans to EDGI participants advancing affordable housing and neighborhood-focused projects across Indianapolis.

That support is already generating results. Members of EDGI’s second cohort have closed on approximately $255,000 in predevelopment loans across 10 projects, with half of participants actively advancing developments.

One graduate from the first cohort – the first Black woman to own and operate an architecture firm in Indianapolis – secured a $1.2 million acquisition loan to transform a vacant commercial property into her company headquarters while creating additional space for other development-related businesses.

“Participants are graduating from our program and saying, ‘I see needs in my community, and now I can help address them.’ And that’s thanks to Opus. That’s what makes this work worthwhile,” said Kelsi.

As EDGI participants continue moving projects from planning into development, LISC expects the program’s impact to extend well beyond individual buildings or sites – helping create a stronger pipeline of developers equipped to lead projects that reflect and serve their communities.