Recently Gail Berlinger joined PCI as Vice President of Risk Management and Strategic Initiatives at an exciting moment in the organization's history. With almost 25 years of experience across affordable housing, community development, and nonprofit leadership, Gail brings a unique perspective shaped by working across multiple disciplines with a wide range of mission-driven partners. Throughout her career, Gail has focused on strengthening organizations from within by building systems, improving operations, and helping turn ambitious ideas into lasting impact.
In this edition of ‘Three Questions With...,’ Gail shares a bit about what attracted her to PCI's mission, why strong relationships and thoughtful systems are essential to creative community development lending, and how she hopes to help position the organization for its next chapter of growth. Gail’s reflections offer an inside look at the leadership, collaboration, and long-term thinking required to ensure PCI continues creating opportunities for communities across Massachusetts for years to come.
What drew you to PCI and how has your prior experience shaped the way you think about PCI’s mission and work?
Two things initially drew me to PCI: the mission, and the team. PCI improves the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors by investing capital and expertise in communities to generate opportunities – aligning with the work I’ve intentionally pursued throughout my career. I’ve had the opportunity to work with some of the PCI team previously, and I have tremendous respect for their knowledge, commitment to mission, and collaborative spirit.
I’m joining PCI at what feels like an exciting inflection point. The fund was originally scheduled to sunset in 2023, but its investors recognized the value and impact of the work and extended for another ten years. With more than 25 years of impact and a strong foundation, we’re well positioned to further extend the fund and continue serving as a critical part of Massachusetts' community development finance ecosystem.
Throughout my career, I've been deeply embedded in affordable housing and community development. I've had the opportunity to approach the field from multiple perspectives, which has given me a real appreciation for how different functions, partners, and stakeholders come together to advance a shared mission. Across these diverse roles, there have been some consistent threads: building strong systems to enhance practices, putting legs under ideas and bringing them to life, and filling gaps.
Joining PCI offers me the opportunity to engage my generalist toolbox to build bench strength and strengthen the systems that undergird PCI’s important work.
PCI often talks about being a flexible, creative lending partner. From your perspective, what has to be in place internally and externally for an organization to deliver that kind of responsiveness and impact over the long term?
Externally, I think relationships are the most critical component. Building deep, trusted relationships with our borrowers and community partners allows us to surface opportunities and tackle bumps in the road collaboratively before they become problems that steer projects off course. Over time, these relationships build the trust needed to navigate increasingly complex projects together. PCI has a track record of partnering with smart, mission-driven, community-informed borrowers and stakeholders, and it has yielded a belief in our partners, confidence in their vision, and a shared investment in their long-term success.
It’s also critical for us to be integrally connected to the broader financing ecosystem. Having strong connections with other funding partners, understanding their lending tools and strengths, allows us to bring together the right financing package for our borrowers. And we are fortunate to work in the Commonwealth, where there is a lot of momentum and support around this important work.
Internally, our strong operational systems, clear decision-making processes, and thoughtful risk management create the confidence to be nimble and pursue innovative solutions while remaining good stewards of resources. These systems also help us learn from experience by understanding what has worked well, where we've encountered unexpected risks, and how we can continue improving over time.
Finally, PCI’s culture is important and unique. Something that’s really struck me in working with this team is how collaborative we are. There are clearly defined roles, but people aren’t proprietary when it comes to thinking things through – you’ll often find us around the big table, putting our heads together and collaboratively noodling through challenges to pull in the breadth of perspectives and experience we have in our midst. We laugh a lot; a sense of humor and perspective helps to roll with complex and evolving challenges. But we share, and are buoyed by, the immense sense of privilege that comes from working in this mission space, providing a tool to advance critically needed community resources.
Looking ahead, what are you most excited to help build at PCI in the years to come?
I’m excited to dig in and help strengthen the systems and infrastructure that will allow PCI’s expertise, culture, and impact to endure beyond any one individual. There is a real opportunity to enhance organizational resilience and build bench strength that supports our work over the long term.
I look forward to collaborating to advance our enterprise risk management function, through the lens of building strategic capacity rather than simply checking a compliance box. These systems and practices help PCI navigate uncertainty and create the environment for the organization’s strategic growth and sustained impact.
Ultimately, my goal is to fully institutionalize the practices that currently make PCI a resilient organization – one that preserves its deep expertise, develops future talent, and continues to creatively solve problems in the funding landscape – and to leverage that resilience to launch new strategies that position PCI to serve Massachusetts communities for years to come.
