Elizabeth L. Carter, Esq.

Elizabeth L. Carter is an inclusive redeveloper, co-op builder, community planner, and commercial real estate finance attorney who specializes in providing multi-disciplinary support to equity-conscious real estate investment funds, socially-responsible commercial real estate companies, and visionary redevelopers, especially in the areas of inclusive redevelopment and transformative commercial retail projects. Her background is in community economic development, redevelopment, corporate securities, affordable cooperative housing; social entrepreneurship; and cooperative enterprises. She has been recognized by the Harvard Law & Political Economy Emerging Scholars Program for her work combatting systemic racism through innovative economic structures, particularly cooperatives.

Currently, Elizabeth is leading an inclusive redevelopment project within a historically disinvested community on the Far Southside of Chicago and is co-founder of a membership-owned holding cooperative aimed at supporting Black women entrepreneurs through a comprehensive business ecosystem offering services like legal, accounting, marketing, administration, childcare, and more. She also has a background in community economic development where she previously served as Special Counsel at the City of Newark where she was project manager and lead counsel on a $8.1 mill affordable housing cooperative project, among others. In addition, Elizabeth authored the City’s amended tax abatement ordinance which provides tax incentives for inclusionary development by women, racial minorities, and cooperatives.

In her role as an attorney, Elizabeth has drafted legislation, created policy, led and counseled multi-million dollar inclusive redevelopment projects, represented cooperatives, and other businesses in a variety of industries, including hair care; skin care; cannabis; stem cell research; electric vehicle chargers; and ride-share apps.

She is also a founding member of WisConnect Holding Cooperative, a Black woman-owned worker cooperative designed to help Black women entrepreneurs scale and sustain their businesses through professional support services, affordable commercial space and access to global trading opportunities and inclusive redevelopment investments.

Her portfolio of work includes the legal representation of property owners, small businesses, nonprofits and government agencies in various community economic development initiatives including drafting a joint venture agreement on behalf of a minority-owned redevelopment entity in order to promote inclusionary development; serving as general counsel to a limited-equity housing cooperative with over two hundred affordable housing units for seniors, and persons of low income; assisting a community development nonprofit with the sale of real estate for the development of affordable housing; representing a government agency with property tax lien issues in order to assist in the removal of blighted properties; reviewing, drafting, and negotiating a commercial real estate contract on behalf of a small business owner; and helping to prevent a tax lien foreclosure on behalf of a low-income property owner through the negotiation and drafting of a third-party investor real estate agreement.

Elizabeth has a Masters in urban planning and a juris doctorate from Rutgers University, as well as a Bachelor’s of Arts (honors) in political science, philosophy, and African-American studies from the University of Michigan. She has obtained numerous fellowships and served on boards for a number of organizations. Previous board positions include the Board of Directors for the Co-op Ed Center, and Advisory Board Members for the Urban Cooperative Enterprise Legal Center, Inc.; Seaway Bank; Lawndale Christian Development Corporation; and the National Public Housing Museum.