Theresa Zawacki has over 21 years of experience in impact investing, community development, finance, fund development, government relations, brownfields, and community engagement, across the private, public, and nonprofit sectors. She has raised and deployed over $30 million to support place-based investments in affordable housing, including the establishment of a community land trust, and the development of a 5-acre, $175 million-plus mixed-use campus on a former brownfield for a Louisville-based community development effort focused on investment without displacement in a historically Black neighborhood.
Ms. Zawacki supported the investment of over $180 million in private sector development for arts and culture, sports and recreation, community services, restaurant, retail, and creative economy manufacturing uses, provided strategic direction to developers, businesses, citizens, and Louisville Metro Government on development and long-range planning, including historic preservation, sustainability, planning and zoning, citizen engagement, and creative finance. She developed $15 million in loan products focused on affordable multifamily housing, local food manufacturing, and brownfields redevelopment.
Ms. Zawacki’s policy work includes research and recommendations to former Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin to identify Opportunity Zones in Louisville/Jefferson County, leading to the designation of 18 census tracts as eligible for this investment vehicle, and supporting the development of a Louisville prospectus to attract investments to these areas. She holds a bachelor’s in biology and philosophy from Transylvania University and a master’s in community planning and Juris Doctor from the University of Cincinnati.