Job Description

Title: President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Organization: Baltimore Community Lending, Inc.

Reports to: Board of Directors

Direct Reports: Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Lending Officer, Director, Small Business Lending

Employee Count: 25

Website: bclending.org

Position Summary

The President & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is the strategic, operational, and external leader of Baltimore Community Lending, responsible for driving the organizations next era of growth and community impact. The CEO sets a clear vision, safeguards financial strength and portfolio performance, and leads a high-performing team dedicated to missionaligned lending and equitable development.

As the public face of BCL, the CEO will build influential relationships across Baltimores civic, philanthropic, banking, and policy networks, elevating the organizations visibility and presence. This leader will diversify capitalization, advance innovative lending strategies, and uphold BCLs commitment to equity and inclusive economic opportunity.

The CEO will guide the organization through a pivotal phase of scalingexpanding assets, strengthening operations, and ensuring that lending and technical assistance are responsive to community needs. They will model transparency, accountability, and cultural stewardship while positioning BCL as a regional and national leader in community development finance.

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities (Must Haves)

Deep Lending, Credit & Financial Leadership: Brings strong lending, underwriting, and riskmanagement expertise (banking background ideal; CDFI/CDC preferred). Able to navigate funding headwinds, understand smallbusiness and realestate lending cycles, and balance financial discipline with missionaligned lending. Strong capitalraising and funder relationship skills

• CommunityCentered, BaltimoreConnected Relationship Builder: A visible, personable leader who builds trust quickly and shows up in the community. Ideally familiar with Baltimores civic, philanthropic, banking, and neighborhood ecosystems; if not, must be able to establish credibility and strong local relationships rapidly
• Proven Executive, People & Culture Leader: Experienced in motivating and developing diverse, multigenerational teams. Collaborative, nontopdown manager who strengthens internal operations, improves customer service, builds the next layer of leadership, and supports organizationwide succession planning
• Strategic, GrowthOriented Visionary & Skilled Advocate: Able to guide BCL through economic/political shifts, diversify capital sources, scale responsibly ($100125M in assets), and extend regional/national presence. Clear communicator who can articulate BCLs value, engage policymakers, support advocacy efforts, and participate in statewide CDFI coalitionbuilding
• Strong Mission Alignment & EquityDriven Leadership: Authentic commitment to BCLs mission with a deep belief in equity, culturally responsive lending, and meaningful engagement with communities of color. Protects mission integrity regardless of political climate; brings fresh energy, creativity, and a modern leadership mindset
• National Network & External Visibility: Existing national relationships in the CDFI, community development, or philanthropic sectors that help elevate BCLs profile and open new capital channels. Ability to represent BCL on regional and national stages (OFN, SBA, industry convenings)

Other Desired Skills & Abilities

Government, PublicSector & Policy Fluency: Experience navigating public funding sources and state/local agencies, with a strong understanding of the policy landscape affecting small businesses, real estate, and CDFIs

• Organizational Turnaround & Change Leadership: Proven ability to guide organizations through growth, transitions, stabilization, or reputation rebuilding with steady, inclusive, and thoughtful decisionmaking
• Real Estate + Small Business Ecosystem Expertise: Deep familiarity with the needs of developers, entrepreneurs, and small businesses ideally within Baltimore or comparable urban markets
• Executive Level Operational & Scaling Strength: Background in building and improving systems, processes, and infrastructure to support scalable growth and increasing organizational complexity
• Visionary Leadership with Disciplined Execution: Able to articulate a compelling vision and translate it into measurable goals, balancing ambition with practical assessment of resources and capacity
• High Emotional Intelligence & Stakeholder Diplomacy: Skilled at navigating complex stakeholder landscapes with tact, clarity, and calm, building trust across community partners, funders, staff, and the board
• Inclusive, Ethical & Accountable Team Leadership: Models transparency, integrity, psychological safety, and shared ownership; builds strong culture, develops people, and leads without commandandcontrol
• DataInformed, MissionDriven Decision Maker: Grounds decisions in data, community insight, and BCLs equitycentered mission; demonstrates deep commitment to culturally responsive lending and neighborhood impact

Strategic Vision & Leadership

• Lead development, refinement, and execution of BCLs longterm strategic plan in partnership with the Board, senior leadership, staff, and external stakeholders
• Provide visionary leadership consistent with BCLs mission to revitalize underserved communities through affordable lending and technical assistance
• Monitor macro trends in community development finance, affordable housing, small business ecosystems, regulatory policy, and economic development to ensure BCL remains responsive, innovative, and resilient
• Foster an organizational culture that emphasizes equity, inclusion, integrity, transparency, collaboration, and high performance
• Lead the design and implementation of a diversified capitalization strategy (debt, equity, grants, missiondriven investors) to support BCLs growth objectives and maintain strong liquidity, reserves, and leverage ratios
• Oversee budgeting, financial forecasting, and management of the balance sheet, ensuring sustainable growth of assets, lending portfolios, and operating reserves
• Partner with the CFO to ensure robust financial controls, audit compliance, risk management, and regulatory reporting (including CDFI Fund requirements, federal/state grant reporting, donor reporting, etc.)
• Oversee asset quality, credit risk policies, underwriting standards, and portfolio performance metrics, in conjunction with senior lending staff
• Work with the lending leadership (e.g., CLO, real estate, and small business divisions) to set annual lending goals, product development, pricing, underwriting policy, and portfolio deployment strategy
• Ensure that BCLs lending products (real estate, small business, mixeduse, affordable housing, technical assistance) remain responsive to community needs and aligned with BCLs mission
• Promote capital + approachesi.e., combining financing with capacity building, TA, coaching, and stakeholder supportto maximize impact
• Monitor internal metrics of impact (units developed, businesses served, jobs created, neighborhoods stabilized) and integrate learning / evaluation into strategy adjustments
• Serve as BCLs primary external champion: build and maintain relationships with government agencies, philanthropic foundations, banks, impact investors, community partners, anchor institutions, civic organizations, and elected officials
• Lead or oversee fundraising campaigns, capital campaigns, grant writing, and donor cultivation to secure funding for both operating and programmatic needs
• Represent BCL in public forums, media, conferences, and advocacy settings to elevate its profile, influence policy, and build strategic partnerships
• Ensure coordination across internal teams (program, finance, operations, marketing) to support compelling proposals, reporting, and stewardship of funders

Board Relations & Governance

• Support the Board in fulfilling its oversight responsibilities: provide timely, accurate, and transparent reporting on operations, financials, risk, impact, and strategy
• Work with Board leadership and committees (e.g., audit, finance, governance) to recruit new board members, manage board development, and align governance processes
• Assist in shaping and updating organizational policies, bylaws, conflictofinterest standards, and strategic priorities in consultation with the Board

Operations, Talent & Culture

• Oversee general operations, facilities (including the new headquarters and business development & resource center, IT systems, legal/compliance, HR, and administrative support
• Recruit, develop, and retain a highperforming senior leadership team and staff, promoting diversity, equity, inclusion, and professional growth
• Establish performance goals, evaluation processes, and incentive systems to drive accountability and continuous improvement
• Encourage crossfunctional collaboration, knowledge sharing, and adaptive capacity to respond to changing conditions and opportunities
• Ensure BCL maintains compliance with all relevant federal, state, and local regulations (e.g., CDFI Fund rules, IRS rules, nonprofit governance, grant funding regulations)
• Oversee development and execution of risk management frameworks (credit risk, operational risk, liquidity risk, reputational risk)
• Maintain a system of internal controls, audits, and oversight mechanisms to protect assets and mitigate vulnerabilities
• Monitor compliance with donor ]]>

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