Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer

Boston, MA

BlueHub Capital (BlueHub), a national nonprofit community development financial institution,

seeks a Chief Strategy and Implementation Officer (CSIO) to play a critical role in expanding the
organization’s reach and impact over the next two decades. The new CSIO will serve as a
catalyst, connector and implementer who translates the organization’s ambitious and innovative
agenda for the future into concrete action steps and effective on-the ground programs. The
individual will build on BlueHub’s impressive track record of providing affordable housing, good
jobs, and new opportunities in low-income communities.

Founded in 1985 with $3,500 in start-up funds, BlueHub has grown from a single, locally-based,
community loan fund to a multi-tiered organization that serves as a national model of a think-
and-do tank for community investment. Its service lines and programs include a national tax
credit program, a nationally-acclaimed foreclosure relief program, a mortgage lender, a real
estate acquisition entity, two double bottom-line venture funds, and an alternative energy
initiative focused on stabilizing utility costs in multi-family affordable housing developments.
With $1.1 billion of assets under management, BlueHub is a self-sustaining business with 2017
revenues exceeding $38 million and a staff of 45.

Reporting to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and working closely with others on the C-Suite
team, the new CSIO will craft and execute plans for new initiatives and for the growth and
improvement of existing programs. To achieve these goals, the CSIO will manage teams
working throughout the organization.

BlueHub seeks candidates who have a commitment to improving the lives of low-income
populations and communities. The successful candidate must have outstanding execution
capabilities and be comfortable working in a values-driven organization operating at the
intersection of downtown business expertise and community needs. The individual will have
substantial experience in a senior management role developing and implementing new business
and growth strategies in a nimble, entrepreneurial and complex environment. In addition, they
should be familiar and comfortable with the complex interplay of policy, law and commerce in
solving social and economic issues.

Isaacson Miller, a Boston based, executive search firm, has been retained by BlueHub Capital
to assist in its search. After consulting with the organization, this document was prepared and
will be shared with candidates and important sources in the search. It describes our
understanding of the organization’s current organizational structure and its range of services, as
well as the challenges and opportunities facing the new CSIO, and the personal and
professional characteristics the ideal candidate should possess.
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BlueHub Capital
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HISTORY

Founded in 1985, BlueHub developed as an organization that stands at the intersection of

downtown expertise and community values, bridging gaps between people and places to build a
better world. It is a fully self-sustaining, national, nonprofit organization that has invested over
$1.4 billion dollars (and leveraged another $8 billion) to finance community facilities, solar
energy installations, affordable housing, good jobs, foreclosure relief, utility benchmarking and
new opportunities in low-income communities. To date, BlueHub and its affiliates have financed
over 30,000 affordable homes, over 2 million square feet of inner-city commercial real estate,
child care facilities and schools serving nearly 30,000 children, businesses creating over 4,000
jobs, over 2.5 million acres of sustainably managed timberlands in distressed, rural areas, over
$150 million in residential mortgages and created the largest database in the world of multi-
family utility benchmark.

As the organization has launched new business units and initiatives, it has expanded both its
expertise and its ability to leverage that expertise. It has deftly responded to shifts in the
financial environment, addressing critical needs as they emerge, and seeking opportunities to
increase its impact. Over the years it has launched new business units, targeting specific
problems and in the process has expanded both its expertise and its ability to leverage that
expertise. As it has increased its lending, it has increased its assets under management, and
increased its net assets – ensuring it can assume the risks associated with new initiatives while
maintaining the financial strength of its core programs.

All the while, BlueHub has maintained its commitment to its borrowers and communities,
harnessing its flexibility as a CDFI in order to keep capital flowing to underserved
neighborhoods and populations.

LEADERSHIP
Elyse Cherry is chief executive officer of BlueHub Capital. As a member of BlueHub original
board of directors, Cherry helped found the organization in 1984, and she has been integrally
involved in its development and growth. Since 1997 she has served as its president and CEO.
There is an 11-member board of directors.

BLUEHUB TODAY

BlueHub is committed to working together with its peers and partners across the nation toward
its goal of an inclusive prosperity that ensures that low-income people and communities have
access to the tools they need to create wealth, opportunity, and lasting change. BlueHub has
not attempted to fit into a mold, but has focused on expanding the mold through pioneering
programs and business lines that are creative, effective, and fiscally sustainable. Whether
financing a health center or a charter school, solar panels or a saw mill, a low-income family or
an established developer of affordable housing, the organization’s focus remains on developing
financial tools, programs and ideas that provide access to opportunity, bridge gaps rather than
widen them, and offer the potential and promise to change the world.

Its programs include:

Loan Fund
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BlueHub Capital
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Founded in 1984 to meet the credit needs of organizations and communities traditionally denied
access to capital, the Loan Fund has been the core of BlueHub Capital’s business lines. The
fund provides innovative, flexible loan capital that is scarce or simply not available from
conventional sources in the communities in which BlueHub works. It continues to play a critical
role in financing the community-based projects and facilities.

SUN Initiative

The SUN Initiative, BlueHub’s foreclosure prevention program, works to prevent the
displacement of families and the neighborhood destabilizing effects of vacancy and
abandonment. The organization, which currently operates in seven states, acquires foreclosed
properties before evictions occur and resells these homes to their existing occupants with
mortgages they can afford. Since late 2009, the SUN Initiative has kept close to 1000 families
facing foreclosure in their homes, reducing their monthly mortgage payments and principal
balances, on average, by 35%.

Sustainability Initiatives

BlueHub’s sustainability initiatives develop financing tools and web platforms for energy
conservation, energy efficiency and renewable energy investments, primarily for the affordable
housing and non-profit sectors. For years, affordable housing developments have been built or
rehabbed with limited “first cost budgets” that typically trade off lower development costs for
higher life-cycle costs.

BlueHub’s aim is to improve building energy and environmental performance, stabilize and
lower the operating expenses of affordable housing developments, and create opportunities for
low-income communities to use energy more wisely.

New Markets Tax Credits

The New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) program invests in community and economic
development projects that create jobs and opportunities in economically distressed communities
nationwide.

To date, BlueHub has received seven NMTC allocations totaling more than $500 million from
the U.S. Department of Treasury. It has deployed these allocations in transactions in 16 states
across the U.S., including sustainable forestry projects in West Virginia, Maine, California,
Washington and Oregon; a sweet potato processing plant in rural Louisiana; commercial real
estate in distressed communities in Texas and North Dakota; and a charter school serving low-
income students in Dorchester, Massachusetts. Its investments have allowed these projects to
leverage over $1.3 billion in additional capital to their communities. BlueHub’s Loan Fund also
makes NMTC leverage loans to support community health centers, child care facilities and
charter schools. BlueHub uses earnings from its NMTC awards to launch new initiatives and
expand its core lending programs, including its Loan Fund, its SUN Initiative and its Energy
Advantage Program.

Venture Fund
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BlueHub Capital
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During its 12 years of existence, the Venture Fund provided equity investments in high-potential
businesses that create financial, social and environmental returns. Starting in 1997, the Venture
Fund invested $20 million in 21 companies across a broad range of industries—from
transportation and media, to education and food services, to life science diagnostics and waste
remediation. It invested in businesses that provide quality goods and services to lower-income
communities or other disadvantaged populations, enhance the stability of lower-income or rural
neighborhoods, and produce products that enhanced the environment or reduced pollution.

The Venture Fund also served as a champion for overlooked markets and innovative business
models that address large societal challenges. Its social lens brought a unique perspective to
equity financing and to nurturing businesses otherwise overlooked by traditional investors. In the
process, BCVF supported companies that have radically transformed the market in which they
operate.

Together, the Venture Fund's portfolio companies created or preserved over 4,000 jobs in
communities where low-income people live and work. Its investments also helped leverage
over $200 million in investment into its portfolio companies.

Civic Leadership

BlueHub’s work is rooted in practice— the on-the-ground actions it takes to respond to the
evolving needs of underserved markets. It translates this practice into policy—leveraging the
power of work “in the trenches” to promote systemic change in the communities it serves.

BlueHub operates “at the intersections,” creating bridges across the public, private and nonprofit
sectors. It works with civic, government, community-based, and private sector partners and
stakeholders to create and preserve resources for neighborhood stabilization and revitalization
and to advance initiatives that have the potential to transform communities. It plays an active
leadership role in the housing, community development, and CDFI sectors, working to ensure
that resources are mobilized and moving in concert to provide solutions at the scale of the
problems it seeks to address.

Future Initiatives

BlueHub is currently working on two white papers and it is investigating such initiatives as
driving down the cost of a path to citizenship, examining the future of work, setting up a
scholarship fund, tapping the potential of donor advised funds and examining how the
organization could generate more income. These ideas reflect the breadth and originality that
have characterized the organization since its inception.
For more details about BlueHub, consult www. bluehubcapital.org
THE ROLE

The newly created position of the CSIO has been established to help guide a complex values-
driven institution into an era of enhanced growth. The role requires an ability to collaborate
effectively with colleagues at BlueHub, setting priorities, assigning personnel and financial
resources, and garnering support for change and innovation. The CSIO needs superb
interpersonal skills and adroitness at dealing with a wide range of internal colleagues and
external stakeholders.
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BlueHub Capital
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Through strong collaboration, careful planning and thoughtful implementation, the CSIO will set
an example of professionalism, entrepreneurship and creativity within and outside the
organization.

OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

The following broad opportunities and challenges will be addressed by the new CSIO in close
collaboration with the CEO and C-Suite team of BlueHub.

 Assess current and proposed programs and craft plans to expand or launch them in a
way that is consistent with the values and traditions of BlueHub, serving the needs of
target populations and continuing to promote the organization’s leadership role in
economic development and impact investing.

 Through careful transparent and evidence-based planning, ensure that BlueHub has the
staffing, technology and infrastructure to achieve goals of new and expanding programs
and promote efficiency and innovation.

 Support and embody a collaborative culture of atmosphere of continuous improvement,

constructive criticism and team support.

 Communicate proposals and plans to the CEO, the C-Suite team, and other
stakeholders in a clear and timely manner.

 Consistently monitor the progress of initiatives, providing regular updates for the CEO,
C-Suite team and board.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

The successful candidate must be committed to BlueHub’s mission and values and be able to
demonstrate this commitment through their previous experiences. In addition, they must have
able to thrive in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial culture.

The CSIO will bring most, if not all, of the following previous experience and personal qualities
to this important role:

 10 or more years of experience, including substantial experience in a senior

management role developing and implementing new business and growth strategies.

 Demonstrated commitment to social, economic and political justice, consistent with the
mission and goals of BlueHub Capital.
 Ability to flourish in a nimble, entrepreneurial environment that is relatively non-
hierarchical.

 Familiarity with the complex interplay of policy, law, and commerce in solving social and
economic issues.
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BlueHub Capital
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 Exceptional interpersonal skills and facility at dealing with a wide range of stakeholders.

 Ability to collaborate across public, private and non-profit sectors to build healthy
communities where low-income people live and work.

 Experience developing and articulating cutting-edge financing strategies.

 Ability to inspire a qualified team to maintain high performance in a fast-paced

environment.
 Comfort and enthusiasm for working in a financial and policy-intensive field.
 Excellent communication, writing, analytical, and problem-solving skills.
 A strong sense of ethics and integrity.
 Ability to share credit, operate at a planning level as well as in the trenches.
 An even keeled temperament that is comfortable both in the spotlight representing
BlueHub and in the background.

TO APPLY
Review of applications, nominations, and expressions of interest will begin immediately and
continue on a confidential basis until an appointment is made. All inquiries,
nominations/referrals, and applications (including resume and letters of interest responding to
the position challenges and objectives outlined above) will be held in the strictest confidence
and should be submitted via Isaacson, Miller’s website:

Daniel Rodas, Vice President

Donna Cramer, Managing Associate
Isaacson, Miller
263 Summer Street, Boston, MA 02210
617-262-6500
www.imsearch.com/6610

Electronic submission of material is strongly encouraged.

BlueHub Capital is an Equal Opportunity provider