Lafayette Square Appoints Lori Scott as Managing Director, Impact Credit

Credit industry veteran will be responsible for making credit available to underserved populations.

New York, May 11, 2021 – Lafayette Square, an impact-driven, minority-owned investment platform, today announced that it has appointed Lori Scott as Managing Director, Impact Credit. In this newly created role, Ms. Scott will lead the development of strategies for the deployment of capital to small regionalized businesses in historically underserved communities.

Ms. Scott has been developing and executing impact investment strategies globally throughout her twenty-five-year career, with a particular focus on increasing capital for underserved people and places. Before joining Lafayette Square, she was the Chief Credit Officer, Impact Investments, at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, where she led over $100 million in new investments, and oversaw underwriting, policy development, and risk management for a diverse portfolio of domestic and emerging market investment strategies.

“Lori embodies the core of our firm’s mission,” said Damien Dwin, Founder & CEO of Lafayette Square. "She has spent her career putting capital to work where it is needed yet systemically absent, facilitating the flow of carefully underwritten capital to underbanked entrepreneurs of color and women business leaders.”

Earlier in her career, Ms. Scott helped launch Skopos, the first impact investment fund for Anthos Fund & Asset Management. She was also an analyst for Aeris, the Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI) rating agency, and the Department of Treasury CDFI Fund Bond Guaranty program.

Previously, Ms. Scott was President of Community Investment Partners at Calvert Social Investment Foundation, helping grow Calvert Impact Capital from $8 million to $500 million AUM. She started in impact investing as a real estate lender at Illinois Facility Fund, a regional CDFI, and began her career at the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

“Joining Lafayette Square is a culminating moment in my career,” said Ms. Scott. “Lafayette Square’s model builds on my life’s work. Damien and his team understand that truly impactful capital needs to go beyond charitable giving – it’s about making meaningful, growth-oriented investments in overlooked populations so that local businesses can create jobs and better serve the communities around them.”

Ms. Scott serves on the Board of Directors and the loan and audit committees of Primary Care Development Corporation. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
‍

About Lafayette Square

Lafayette Square is an impact investment platform working locally to create an inclusive American economy. Through capital and services, we confront critical societal challenges in three core areas: housing, jobs, and financial inclusion. For more information about Lafayette Square, please visit lafayettesquare.com.

‍

Media Contact:
Shree Dhond/Zach Kouwe
Dukas Linden Public Relations
646-722-6531
lafayettesquare@dlpr.com