Cinnaire announced the promotion of Donsia Strong Hill to Executive Vice President of Equitable Engagement and Impact Strategies. Donsia’s promotion also aligns with Cinnaire’s dedication to addressing economic inequity, a key focus area which emerged during strategic planning this past year.

“During these discussions, we realized that to more effectively facilitate alignment of strategies across the organization, we needed to develop a Theory of Change – a clear articulation of the social problem we seek to address and ultimately, the change we seek to make,” president and CEO Mark McDaniel said. “Towards this goal, Cinnaire will apply our resources and expertise toward solving the problem of economic inequity.”

In this new role Donsia will lead Cinnaire's efforts to identify and analyze new business opportunities, drive strategies to deepen community connection and advance impact in alignment with Cinnaire’s Theory of Change, the corporate mission and equitable and inclusive development. She will also oversee the development and implementation of systems and tools that define and measure the impact of Cinnaire’s work.

Donsia recently led the creation and implementation of Cinnaire’s $55 million Ubuntu Fund which debuted fully subscribed. Ubuntu is an equitable access fund created to support affordable housing development for emerging developers in the Midwest who have faced systemic barriers to securing traditional funding sources. The investors in Ubuntu were united by the shared goal of expanding access to capital to emerging developers of color working in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) industry through creative fund structuring.

The fund’s objective aligns with the principles of its namesake Ubuntu, a philosophy emphasizing that individuals are shaped by relationships and through community with others. Ubuntu originates from the Nguni language and translates as “humanity towards others.” The word’s fundamental elements include respect, communalism, conciliation and inclusiveness—values at the core of Cinnaire’s mission and the purpose of the fund.

Donsia joined Cinnaire’s Chicago office in 2020 serving as Senior Vice President, Corporate Capital Strategies where she led capital raising among Cinnaire’s financial institution partners and aligning funding with strategy and meeting CRA metrics. She was also responsible for developing and implementing Cinnaire’s strategy for partnering with foundations, corporations, and financial institutions to grow Cinnaire’s work in the community development sector. She is a member of the Real Estate Executive Council (REEC).

Prior to joining Cinnaire, she led LISC Milwaukee’s strategic direction and partnerships and cofounded a law firm specializing in complex tax credit, bond, and equity funded community development and public finance transactions valued at over $3 billion.

Donsia is a graduate of Illinois State University. She received her Juris Doctor from John Marshall Law School and Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University Kennedy School.