Elyse D. Cherry

Elyse Cherry is CEO of BlueHub Capital and President of Boston Community Venture Fund, a BlueHub affiliate which invests in businesses that have the potential to achieve social and financial returns. She helped found BlueHub in 1984, and has been integrally involved in its growth from a start-up organization to what is, today, a national model for community investment.

Under her leadership, BlueHub has invested more than $700 million in underserved communities, financing affordable housing, jobs and opportunities for low-income people. BlueHub’s innovative foreclosure relief work was highlighted by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke as a model for how “local communities are meeting the challenges of tough times in troubled communities.” The initiative has kept over 200 families in their homes.

Elyse is a leader in the community development finance industry and has served as Vice Chair of the Opportunity Finance Network. She currently serves on the Advisory Committee to the Massachusetts Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Elyse is the past Chair of the Massachusetts Cultural Council and MassEquality. Among other appointments, she is a member of the Board of Directors of the Mission Driven Investment Committee of the Kellogg Foundation, and the external Board of the Institute for Global Leadership at Tufts University.

Elyse is a graduate of Wellesley College and the Northeastern University School of Law where she delivered the student commencement address. She started her career as a VISTA Volunteer in Tennessee.