BACKGROUND
The Organization
Grounded Solutions Network (GSN) is the nation’s largest network of practitioners and advocates dedicated to expanding shared equity models and other innovative approaches that keep housing affordable for generations. GSN’s work is guided by a clear and powerful vision: a future where everyone has access to an affordable home in a community that supports health, education, economic opportunity, and long-term well-being.
As a national membership organization, Grounded Solutions equips the people advancing this work every day—including nonprofit and government practitioners, community resident leaders, advocates, elected officials, and housing professionals—with the tools, knowledge, and support they need to thrive. GSN advances the creation and preservation of high-quality, permanently affordable housing and center racial equity in every aspect of the work.
Grounded Solutions’ membership is comprised of funders, land trusts, housing developers, and other groups across the US. Staff provide technical assistance and policy guidance on the local, state and national levels. Programs include Homes for the Future and HomeKeeper, as well as creative financing and investment partnerships.
To continue Grounded Solutions’ impact and to support the growing number of investments, Grounded Solutions seeks a Senior Vice President, Impact Investment to develop financial partnerships that will support Grounded Solutions’ mission and grow its assets.
The Position
The Senior Vice President of Impact Investment will lead Grounded Solutions’ strategy for securing and deploying significant capital in ways that create real, measurable impact — socially, environmentally, and financially. The SVP will own the full investment lifecycle: sourcing, underwriting, structuring, closing, and ongoing portfolio management across debt, equity, and blended-finance instruments. Partnering closely with the executive team, board, and external capital partners (banks, foundations, government agencies, institutional investors), the SVP will grow Grounded Solutions’ assets under management, strengthen the organization’s impact, and increase the portfolio to enable Grounded Solutions to support future work and investments.
ROLE OVERVIEW
Strategy and Leadership
• Shape and drive Grounded Solutions’ impact investment strategy, keeping it aligned with mission priorities including affordable housing, community development, economic mobility, and climate resilience
• Lead capital strategy for growing and protecting multiple portfolios of permanently affordable, shared equity homes (through community land trust ground leases, limited equity cooperatives, or deed restrictions)
• Serve as a trusted senior voice on the leadership team, advising the CEO, as well as the President and Board of Managers of the Grounded Solutions Network Innovative Finance, LLC subsidiary, on multi-year acquisition fund strategy, capital sources, and long-term stewardship risk
• Be a visible, credible voice for GSN with investors, funders, public agencies, and the broader shared equity/community land trust field (including state housing finance agencies)
• Stay closely attuned to shared equity policy developments and to GSN’s members’ and partners’ capacity to put capital to work
Capital Raising and Investor Relations
• Secure low-cost loans and program-related investments that support portfolio growth goals
• Structure and layer the capital needed for strategic acquisitions and dispositions of single-family homes across multiple national markets
• Set thoughtful investment policies, underwriting standards, and risk parameters with credit/risk committees, accounting for the unique risk profile of affordable home assets (like rental or sales price restrictions)
• Lead capital raising efforts — CDFI capital, foundation grants, program-related investments, and federal, state, and local government sources — to fund acquisition and program needs
• Steward an increasingly diverse capital stack to balance strategic goals with smart risk management and strong balance sheet outcomes
• Keep internal fund management, liquidity, and capitalization strategies sound, with a high standard of care and prudent risk management
• Build and nurture relationships with private banking, investment portfolio managers, and partners
• Support the Grounded Solutions Network Innovative Finance, LLC subsidiary Board of Managers with expert insight on risk related to liquidity, asset-liability matching, portfolio losses, and interest rate margins
Impact Measurement
• Build and oversee the frameworks to track affordability preservation, homeowner wealth-building outcomes, portfolio retention, and resale/foreclosure trends across the home portfolio
• Track the metrics that matter most for long-term affordability — units preserved in perpetuity, AMI levels served, and homeowner equity accrued versus market appreciation foregone
• Ensure impact data shapes subsidy structuring decisions and is reported clearly and credibly to funders, public agency partners, and the board
Team and Operations
• Build, lead, and mentor a talented team spanning acquisition/underwriting and investment portfolio stewardship
• Institute the policies, procedures, and systems (including investment portfolio management software) needed to scale acquisition and long-term monitoring
• Oversee the budget and financial performance of investment and stewardship functions
Compliance and Governance
• Maintain investments and stewardship practices that are compliant with the frameworks that govern GSN’s work (Federal CDFI Fund requirements, fair housing/fair lending laws, state shared equity statutes, funder-specific affordability covenants)
• Ensure future ground lease terms and resale formulas are compliant with funder requirements (HOME, CDBG, CDFI lenders, state trust fund covenants) over multi-decade terms
• Prepare for and present at meetings of the investment/credit committee and board of directors
Reports To
Partners With
Grounded Solutions Established In
Chief Executive Officer
Executive Leadership Team and Innovative Finance LLC Board of Managers
2016
THE IDEAL CANDIDATE
The ideal candidate for the SVP, Impact Investment position possesses the following competencies:
Financial Acumen
Interpreting and applying understanding of key financial indicators to make better decisions.
Resourcefulness
Securing and deploying resources effectively and efficiently.
Drives Results
Consistently achieving results, even under tough circumstances.
Strategic Mindset
Seeing ahead to future possibilities and translating them into breakthrough strategies.
Communicates Effectively
Developing and delivering multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences
Nimble Learning
Actively learning through experimentation when tackling new problems, using both successes and failures as learning fodder.
Qualifications
• 15+ years of experience in financial investment management, community development finance, banking, or a related field, with a track record of taking on progressively senior responsibility
• Deep knowledge of debt/equity structuring, underwriting, and portfolio risk management
• A proven track record of closing complex transactions and raising capital from institutional or philanthropic sources
• Hands-on experience with shared equity homeownership models — community land trusts, limited equity co-ops, or deed-restricted programs
• Strong knowledge of affordable housing capital sources (Philanthropic Program Related Investments and grants, U.S. Dept. of Treasury CDFI Fund loans, HUD grant programs like HOME and CDBG, state/local trust funds, and LIHTC-adjacent tax credit structures where applicable), plus a solid grasp of impact measurement frameworks and mission-driven finance
• A bachelor’s degree is required; an MBA, CFA, or related advanced degree is a plus
Additional Experience
• Relevant financial transaction experience with community land trusts, community development corporations, or shared equity housing nonprofit intermediaries
• Familiarity with Grounded Solutions Network, HUD, and CDFI Fund programs, and with local/state shared equity policies or best practices
• Experience with investor underwriting parameters for resale-restricted affordable housing transactions
• Existing relationships with public housing agencies, impact investors, or philanthropic organizations directing capital toward affordable homeownership outcomes
What Will Help You Thrive
• A balance of strategic and financial acumen with a genuine commitment to long-term mission stewardship
• Comfort holding both growth (acquisition) and preservation (stewardship) priorities in tension
• A relationship-builder’s instinct with public agencies, philanthropic investors, and shared equity housing partners
• Ease moving between strategic, board-level conversations and hands-on, deal-level work
• Excellent written and verbal communication, including presenting confidently to boards, investment committees, and public funders
WHO WE ARE
Work Environment
The Grounded Solutions team works out of Washington, DC, and the preferred location for the SVP is the DMV area. There is an expectation of joining colleagues in the DC office 2–3 days a week.
Five to seven domestic travel trips per year are expected.
Our Commitment to Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
We’re building an organizational culture grounded in critical thinking and awareness about race and class, and we welcome candidates who share our commitment to racial equity as both a process and an outcome. We’re equally committed to building a team as racially and culturally diverse as the communities we serve. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.
COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS
Salary
$245,000 - $255,000
Benefits
Grounded Solutions Network offers a competitive, comprehensive benefits package including health, dental, a matching 401(k), and paid time off along with a supportive, stimulating, collaborative environment full of passionate colleagues dedicated to building community, equity, and justice, plus real opportunities to grow and develop professionally.
TIMELINE AND NEXT STEPS
If you are interested in this position, please click here. All applicants will receive an email confirming receipt of their application.
We encourage candidates of all backgrounds to apply even if you do not meet all of the qualifications outlined above. If you are selected to move forward for an initial screening call, we expect you to hear from us by October.