Elyse Cherry, Chief Executive Officer, Boston Community Capital

Elyse Cherry is Chief Executive Officer of Boston Community Capital (BCC), a national, nonprofit organization that has invested over $1.4 billion to create housing, jobs and opportunities in low-income communities.

Under her leadership, BCC has leveraged $7 billion of public and private investment in underserved communities nationwide. Elyse helped found Boston Community Capital and has been integrally involved in its development and growth from a start-up organization to what is, today, a national model for community investment.

She has helped launch numerous businesses within BCC, including a venture capital fund that was an early investor in Zipcar; an innovative foreclosure relief initiative; a solar energy business; and WegoWise, maker of software that enables building managers to understand and track a building’s energy use and identify ways to improve its efficiency.

An active civic leader, Elyse has chaired the boards of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and Mass Equality during that organization’s historic fight for marriage equality in the Commonwealth. The Financial Times has named her three times to its list of the Top 100 OUTstanding LGBTQ Executives in the world. In 2014, the White House named her a Solar Champion of Change for BCC’s pioneering work to bring the benefits of solar energy to low-income communities.

Elyse is a 1975 graduate of Wellesley College, which recently awarded her its Alumnae Achievement Award. In 2017, the Commonwealth Institute and Boston Globe Magazine named Boston Community Capital, under Elyse’s leadership, to their annual Top 100 Women-Led Businesses in Massachusetts list – for the fourth year in a row. Elyse is formerly a practicing attorney, having graduated from the Northeastern University School of Law.