NOTE: This content created in partnership with LISC Milwaukee.
As The Milwaukee Awards for Neighborhood Development Innovation – aka the MANDIs – gear up to celebrate 26 years with an awards ceremony Thursday, Aug. 14 at Potawatomi Hotel and Casino, award producer LISC Milwaukee is notching its 30th year supporting organizations that work to strengthen the local community.
Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is the local affiliate of one of the nation’s largest community development organizations, according to LISC Milwaukee Executive Director Theo Lipscomb.
“We've been investing in a variety of organizations to help build their capacity,” Lipscomb explains, “whether that's a new organization like the (Milwaukee Community) Land Trust to help them hire their first staff, or whether that's a vibrant organization like VIA CDC that has a long history, but is expanding its work in housing.
“We're not a philanthropy, we make grant investments with the hope that organizations will grow and be stronger and be able to utilize some of the other tools of community development that we can help them access.”
Lipscomb says that LISC is a lender and a tax credit investor, providing equity to projects.
“We're investing early in organizations. We're hoping to be able to invest later in projects. That's sort of the life cycle.”
Over the years, LISC and its affiliates have invested nearly $275 million in Milwaukee and more than $783 million across the state, helping to boost affordable housing, economic development and community-led revitalization work.
That’s part of the $35 billion that LISC nationally has used to leverage more than $93 billion in total development projects that support affordable housing, small businesses, community facilities, rural projects and more.
LISC Milwaukee exchanges knowledge with affiliates across the country to create the kind of metaphorical rising tide that elevates the work nationally.
“Really this is about bringing resources as well as expertise from experience in other markets and being able to cross pollinate those ideas and what works and be able to see how those things can be scaled,” says Lipscomb.
“Each market is different and it's not as though you can just copy and paste. But I think there's benefit in recognizing that there are some valuable experiences from other markets that we can look at and learn lessons from.”
The MANDI Awards, which celebrated 25 years in 2024, on the other hand is strictly local, honoring the successes by nonprofits working in Milwaukee neighborhoods.
Here are this year’s finalists:
The “Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment Community Health Award” for an organization working to eliminate health disparities through system change.
- Bread of Healing Clinic
- Serenity Inns, Inc.
The “Associated Bank Trailblazer Award” for an innovative approach to a community problem.
- Bridge Builders, Inc.
- Milwaukee Diaper Mission
The “BMO Cornerstone Award” for commitment and effectiveness over time.
- Housing Resources Inc.
- Walnut Way Conservation Corp
The “Brewers Community Foundation Public Space Award” for public space that helps build the community.
- Havenwoods State Forest
- National DIY Skatepark, Inc
The “Husch Blackwell Building Blocks Award” for a real estate project that advances the community.
- Concordia 27
- Urban Ecology Center - Washington Park Renovation and Expansion
The “JPMorganChase Economic Development Award” for economic and business development.
- Historic King Drive Business Improvement District No. 8
- HoneyBee Sage Wellness and Apothecary, LLC
The “Navigator Award” for individual leadership.
- Brenda Campbell
- Karen Higgins
The “Wells Fargo People’s Choice Award” will be given to the three finalists who receive the most public votes. Voting takes place Aug. 4-13, on the Urban Milwaukee website.
In addition to the recognition and prestige, MANDI Award Winners receive $1,000 for their organization.
The nominations are made by the general public and then an independent, 26-member volunteer committee selects the finalists and the winners are announced at the Aug. 14 event.
“That community-based volunteer team goes out and does site visits and interviews and selects the finalists and the winner,” Lipscomb says. “This isn't my team sitting around and saying, ‘Hey, who are the friends and partners we want to recognize and highlight,’ or ‘who are our customers?’
“So it is special to be nominated, it's special to be a finalist, and it's obviously even better if you win. This is literally picked by the public. And then even further, we've got the people's choice (award), which keeps growing every year in terms of the number of people who cast votes.”
Thus, like the rest of us, says Lipscomb, he doesn’t know who the winners are until they are announced at the event.
“I am as surprised as anybody,” he says. “Every year I'm surprised by some (winner), some project I wasn’t aware of, some group I've never heard of, and that's because these are coming right from the community.
“It's just a great positive night.”
For more about LISC Milwaukee and the MANDI Awards, visit lisc.org/milwaukee.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press. A fifth collects Urban Spelunking articles about breweries and maltsters.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has been heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
