Leadership Breakfast with Dale Royal
This Tuesday, we sat down for our March Leadership Breakfast with Dale Royal. Dale Royal is the first executive director of LISC Atlanta, a national social enterprise that provides financing and support for community development. Dale oversees efforts to improve economic mobility and neighborhoods in the greater Atlanta region. Before joining LISC, he served for 10 years at Invest Atlanta, the City’s economic development agency, where he directed over $200 million to support projects such as the Center for Civil and Human Rights and innovative programs to help small businesses, including a venture fund and a loan program for social entrepreneurs.
During our discussion, Dale shared about his experience with community problem-solving and his insights on what effective community engagement looks like. Check out our favorite moments below, and watch or listen to the full conversation.
"When you’re trying to do something for the community, you have to listen first.”
I hope that’s what most leaders will try to do. Step back to listen first and then put forth a solution that makes sense for the community."
– Dale Royal
Non-Profit Banks
"I love the niche that non-profit banks fill. We fund projects and businesses that corporate banks don't. We're going to areas that have been avoided and overlooked. We still face the issues of thinking about risk and understanding what we're getting into. But trying to pull off blinders and making sure you're not falling victim to prejudice is a very healthy exercise when looking at new opportunities."
- Dale Royal
““I think we underestimate how complex urban problems are, so people think the solutions are easy when they are not. In addition, we’re often governed by deadlines in a way that we shouldn’t be, and sometimes election cycles or tax deadlines that are driving the goals. It’s not anything special about me or other folks in these situations as problem solvers—we’re really dealing with complex issues, ones that often differ from one community to the other.””
LISTEN
UPCOMING SPEAKERS