Laura is the Director of Financial Health where she supports LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® and Bridges to Career Opportunities network. Laura manages the department’s wealth building strategies, including access to safe and affordable financial products, building short- and long-term savings, and creating opportunities for credit-building most notably through the LISC Twin Accounts™ product.  Prior to joining LISC, Laura worked at Helen Keller International and has a breadth of experience in program design, non-profit capacity-building and grants management. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Washington and a master’s in public administration from New York University and is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Katrin supports LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® and Bridges to Career Opportunities network, with a focus on program sustainability and innovations including employer partnership development, retention and advancement, digital skilling, and FOCs’ role in creating pathways to homeownership.  After starting her career in communications at PolicyLink, she joined LISC to help grow the FOC and Bridges models, then launched a $32M financial capability grant program at NeighborWorks America, and spent time in Rural LISC collaborating with local partners to expand workforce and asset building innovations in rural America before rejoining LISC’s national team in 2019.  Katrin earned a bachelor’s degree from Barnard College and a master's degree in public administration from the Marxe School of Public and International Affairs at Baruch College-City University of New York.  She also holds Economic Development Financial Professional and Housing Development Finance Professional certifications from National Development Council and was a 2018 Opportunity Fellow with Opportunity Finance Network.

Carolina has over 12 years of experience working in nonprofit in the Chicago area, including in grants management, data evaluation, contract regulations, fiscal management, programmatic design, and CRM administration. Carolina supports multiple LISC national programs including the Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC) Network, Business Development Center (BDO) Network, and the Entrepreneurs of Color Fund (EOCF) as the Salesforce System Administrator managing over 750 users.  In addition, Carolina provides the FOC network with technical assistance and model implementation support. Carolina holds a dual bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago in finance and management and is a Certified Salesforce Administrator. 

Lorena Avillaneda is a Houston native with over five years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She co-manages two Salesforce platforms for LISC’s Financial Opportunity Center® (FOC), BDO, and EOCF networks by providing ongoing system maintenance, customizations, custom reports & dashboards, and any other program data needs. In addition to this, she facilitates virtual trainings and provides technical assistance to users. Before LISC, Lorena worked at a former Financial Opportunity Center® in Houston where she held roles as a Career Coach, Executive Assistant, and Program Support Specialist while acting as the back-up Salesforce Administrator for the agency-wide platform. Lorena earned a Bachelor of Science in human development and family studies from the University of Houston with a credential as a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP).

Candi supports the Family Income and Wealth Building (FIWB) team by providing a range of grants management and compliance functions. She also assists with development and implementation of the FIWB program initiatives. Candi joins LISC after serving as Program Specialist for the State of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP), Superstorm Sandy Blue Acres Buyout Program. She also has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector. Candi has a passion for community action and service. She holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in political science from Rutgers University.

Laine supports grant management, program development, and technical assistance to the LISC Financial Opportunity Center® network. She has over 10 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector, focusing primarily on financial empowerment and microfinance. Laine is a bilingual project manager who enjoys creating collaboration between the public and private sectors to benefit underinvested communities. Before joining LISC, Laine worked at Food Bank for New York City, managing its financial empowerment program planning and execution and expanding programming from a direct service model to a train-the-trainers model in public schools and food banks. Previously, Laine worked at ACCION USA, responsible for its outreach strategy, supporting the lending team, developing partnerships with financial institutions and government agencies to assist entrepreneurs with capital. Laine has interests in the connection between asset-building and microenterprise. She is an alumna from the Zicklin School of Business, Baruch College, and NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.