Mrs. Arellano Baglieri is a native of Michoacán, Mexico and was raised in Sacramento, CA after immigrating with her family in the 1980’s. She considers herself lucky to be the sixth of seven children, and the daughter of parents who have been married for over 60 years. Her family paved the way for her by learning to navigate the many American systems needed to achieve naturalization, formal education, and to launch careers and businesses, all while maintaining a focus on their core values of integrity and community.

 

Lucy’s family collaboratively funded her Bachelor’s education at the University of Washington, Seattle, unlocking future generational wealth-building opportunities. Lucy’s 20 year career since then has been one of service, bringing a community and practitioner informed strategic lens to community development and economic empowerment work, all with a focus on racial equity. As Founder and CEO of Luz Impact Strategies, Lucy partners with mission-aligned organizations across the United States to increase capacity, access capital, improve outcomes, and build power for people and communities-of-color.

 

Most recently prior to the full launch of her firm, Lucy served as Chief Strategy Officer & Executive Vice President for the Low Income Investment Fund (LIIF), one of the country’s largest national Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI), and led organizational strategy, racial-equity, and external affairs. Prior to LIIF, Lucy served as Chief Strategy Officer for the Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) in San Francisco, leading the organization’s regional and national work focused on asset building and community development initiatives in Latino and immigrant communities across the country. Drawing on her lived experience and dedication to communities facing the deepest inequities, Mrs. Arellano Baglieri’s career has included direct services, affordable real estate development and preservation, policy and advocacy, equitable CDFI lending for entrepreneurship and affordable real estate, collective impact education networks, and place-based strategies. She has also designed and led internal organizational racial-equity, learning & evaluation, and professional development initiatives. 

 

Mrs. Arellano Baglieri is nationally recognized for her leadership and invited to share her perspective on equitable community development by a range of groups. Mrs. Arellano Baglieri's board service includes place-based and national CDFI lending for small business and real estate, affordable housing development, Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) syndication, health equity, and climate solutions. 

 

Mrs. Arellano Baglieri again lives in Sacramento, CA, now with her husband, a child of immigrants raised in San Francisco’s Mission District, and their two children, in a bilingual household supported by their selfless local family.