Leaders of Impact: A conversation with Affiliate Leader Joseph Lopez, Executive Director of Spanish Coalition for Housing (SCH)

We continue our Leaders of Impact series with another feature highlighting one of the exceptional leaders nationwide in the UnidosUS Affiliate Network. Through this series, we hope to showcase groundbreakers from across the Network, shining a light on what brought them to this work and their leadership philosophy.

1. Can you talk about your background: Where did you grow up? Where did you go to school? How — if at all — did your early life experiences affect your professional path/trajectory? 

I’m a lifelong, third-generation resident of Chicago. I grew up in the Pilsen community on the southwest side of the city and am a proud recipient of a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) education.  I’m from a family of five siblings and a two-parent household. My parents were blue-collar workers. Both my father and my grandfather worked for the Burlington Sante Fe Rail system.

In addition to my Mexican heritage, I have Native American roots on my mother’s side affiliated with the Apache tribe in Oklahoma. Stories from my great grandmother and grandparents relating to our Native American ancestry are part of our family history.

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to attend Whitney Young Magnet High School and to have the support of my close-knit family. My parents were very intentional about maximizing the opportunities and resources available to us so we could access high-quality education. My siblings and I also received additional support from our extended family, like our grandparents, aunts and uncles.

I think Chicago has offered significant opportunities that have helped shape my career. After completing my undergraduate degree at DePaul, I secured a fellowship with the Illinois Governor’s Office 20 years ago. This aligned with my studies in political science, public policy and economics. Working at a state level gave me the opportunity to work with folks from diverse backgrounds and across political aisles. I was fortunate to connect with great mentors in those early years. It was also an invaluable experience in terms of understanding public policy from the community level up to the 5,000-foot level.

From the Governor’s Office as a fellow, I went on to the field of public finance with the Illinois Finance Authority, looking at how access to capital and subsidies can help support local school districts, businesses, cultural institutions and nonprofits. That really helped me to connect those dots — how the public finance world is a critical tool for community development.

I eventually landed at the City of Chicago and served as an urban planner for several years, then become an advisor in the Mayor’s Office. That opportunity allowed me to coordinate with over two dozen city agencies, as well as community stakeholders across sectors.

Before my government experience, during my undergraduate years, I had a part-time position with a local nonprofit, which was a formative experience. Seeing a need for nonprofit capacity building in the community, I eventually transitioned out of the government sphere to start a consulting practice, providing support in program and strategic planning, resource development and sustainability to nonprofits across the city. This is where I crossed paths with the Spanish Coalition for Housing.

2. How did you come to join Spanish Coalition for Housing and how long have you been a part of it? Can you share a little bit about the organization’s work/mission and why it’s important to you?

I connected with SCH initially in my role as a consultant; at the time, the organization had some immediate needs around resource development. Then, an opportunity presented itself to support the organization longer term as part of the team. So, I came on board as their development director and served in that role for a few years. At the start of the pandemic in early 2020, the opportunity emerged for me to transition to executive director. In total, I’ve been with SCH for about seven and a half years.

Our mission is to build generational wealth through housing counseling, financial education and advocacy, by connecting low-to-moderate income households to resources that create housing stability, homeownership and economic mobility.

I value the opportunity to position SCH for continued growth and to remain a key affordable housing resource for the community in Chicago and across Illinois. I am to position our work as one of the premier, nonprofit, bilingual HUD-certified housing counseling organizations, not only in the state but across the country. I also strive to be a thought leader in this space and to work with key government agencies and financial institutions to best connect capital to our communities.

Housing can be complex and complicated. A critical element to my success in this role, as well as that of the organization, has been the support of our leadership team and our board of directors who help guide the organization. I like to think that we strive for perfection, and in that effort, we reach excellence.

As an organization, we’ve been rooted in the Latino community, but given the diverse market in Chicago, we serve many communities across the region. We assist renters who want to stabilize their housing — such as improving their financial wellness, including credit and savings, through financial coaching and education from our counseling team — before moving along the continuum to homeownership. Our goal isn’t only to get folks into homes but also to ensure that it’s sustainable and affordable in the long term.

Housing is a critical, foundational piece to individuals’ ability to prosper and build wealth for themselves and their families. We want to help families build that generational wealth.

I see this from my own personal perspective growing up in Chicago. Coming from a large family, I saw the importance of both homeownership and connecting with and accessing community resources.

3. In your leadership role, what do you feel are 2-3 of the most important priorities to focus on that help ensure the success of the organization and its impact on the community? 

I would say there are three key things. First is the relevancy of our programs and ensuring that our programs are meeting community needs. We do that by actively engaging our community, not only collecting feedback from clients, but also from our larger stakeholder ecosystem.

In addition, accountability and transparency are key to our organizational success. We’re fortunate to have built a reputation over 50 plus years, building trust in the community and cultivating relationships with stakeholders. By being transparent about what we can do, lifting community voices for resources that might be needed and advocating with financial institutions to help shape policy and practice, we advance our mission.

Finally, lifting our own team internally is paramount. We hire from our communities; our team is as diverse as the City of Chicago is. As an employer, it’s important to commit our resources to professional development and career trajectory, so that as folks come in at an entry level, they can see a career path as they continue to grow with the organization. We’re mindful of providing those critical supports to our workforce.

4. What insight/advice would you offer to your younger self, if you could?

Buckle in and hold on tight! I think it’s important to be an active listener and a lifelong learner. When there’s an opportunity to contribute and add value, that doesn’t necessarily mean we show up with a solution, but rather we can bring to that opportunity an openness to collaborate to craft meaningful solutions. Regardless of the sector or industry, what I’ve learned is that one of the salient aspects of success is the ability to be mindful and intentional of what shared goals can be and getting those clear at the front end. We don’t operate in a vacuum. Collaboration, across government, the private sector and the nonprofit ecosystem is critical to best serve our communities and to advance our mission.