The Beeck Center for Social Impact and Innovation
Annie Donovan
The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) recently named Annie Donovan as chief operating officer.
She comes to LISC after serving as director of the Department of Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) for more than four years. As director, she led the agency in its mission to revitalize distressed communities across the nation.
Donovan brings a wealth of experience from both the public and private sectors. Before moving to the CDFI Fund, she headed the nonprofit technology company CoMetrics, providing materials and support for businesses, foundations and social enterprises. Donovan also served as senior policy advisor under President Barack Obama in the White House Office of Social Innovation and the Council on Environmental Quality.
The bulk of her career is dominated, however, by her nearly 20-year stint at Capital Impact Partners, where she rose to become its COO. She guided the congressionally-chartered D.C. nonprofit and community development financial institution’s investments in education, healthcare and housing initiatives while leading the organization’s fundraising and policy efforts.
Donovan’s career was about helping society from the very beginning. After graduating from Allegheny College with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1986, she immediately joined the U.S. Peace Corps as a volunteer in its community development sector. She would stay there for more than two years before moving on to the Campaign for Human Development to serves as its economic development coordinator.
While there, Donovan began to attend the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business and would graduate with a master’s degree in finance in 1995. By the time of her graduation, she had already begun work at Capital Impact Partners, where she would remain until 2012.
“We are excited and humbled to have someone of Annie’s caliber join the LISC team,” said Maurice A. Jones, LISC president and CEO, in a press release about the appointment. “She has helped build models and implement policies that have facilitated some of our field’s most innovative work.”
Annie Donovan assumed the responsibilities of chief operating officer of LISC effective immediately.
