Sarah Greenberg serves as President for Cinnaire Lending. She oversees loan origination, underwriting, and closing for the full range of CDFI loan products. A nationally recognized leader in affordable housing and community development, Sarah has demonstrated a commitment to advancing racial, social, and economic equity. She has worked in community investment for more than 19 years, holding leadership positions at NeighborWorks America, Forward Community Investments, the Northwest Side Community Development Corporation, and High Impact Financial Analysis. During her tenure at NeighborWorks, Sarah was one of the founders of the National Community Stabilization Trust (NCST), a national nonprofit created to facilitate the transfer of foreclosed properties to responsible community organizations. At Forward Community Investments, she launched an Emerging Developer Loan Program in early 2017 to provide financing to BIPOC real estate developers in Wisconsin.
Sarah also ran her own consulting practice, Greenberg Strategies LLC, where she provided advisory services to intermediaries, government entities, philanthropic collaboratives, and CDFls. As a consultant, she helped launch the Milwaukee Rental Housing Resource Center, a first of its kind one-stop shop for tenants and landlords in need of assistance to prevent eviction that received accolades from the National League of Cities. Sarah is on the executive committee for the national CDFI Women’s Network and serves on the Board of Directors for Historic Milwaukee, Housing Resources, Inc., Tempo Milwaukee Foundation, and MobiliSE. She also serves on the Inclusive Financing Subcommittee of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition, where she is helping launch Illinois’ first green bank, authorized by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) in 2021.
Sarah received a master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park, and a bachelor’s degree in Organizational Management from Tiffin University in Ohio. She has completed fellowships with the American Planning Association and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, along with professional certificates from Georgetown University and the University of Chicago.