Markita Morris-Louis | Chief Executive Officer
Markita Morris-Louis (Lou-wee), Esq. proudly serves as Chief Executive Officer for Compass Working Capital, a national nonprofit engaging in policy advocacy, direct service, and capacity building to end asset poverty for families with low-incomes and to narrow the racial and gender wealth gaps. Markita leads a dynamic team that reflects the diversity and vibrancy of the families Compass serves. Her leadership is focused on centering equity in every aspect of Compass’ work, leveraging asset building as a pathway out of poverty, and amplifying the voices of those Compass serves to shift narratives about communities experiencing poverty and financial challenge. Prior to becoming CEO, Markita was Compass’ founding Chief Strategy Officer, leading the organization’s national strategy for scale and impact.
Prior to Compass, Markita served as Interim Executive Director of the Arts + Business Council for Greater Philadelphia where she brought a data and outcomes-driven framework to the organization’s work connecting Philadelphia’s business and arts communities to grow the region’s creative economy. Markita gained significant financial capability experience while serving as Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Clarifi, a nonprofit housing and financial counseling agency. At Clarifi, Markita led a team of 20 financial and housing counselors serving 15,000 clients annually and built and managed multiple strategic alliances and partnerships, including innovative public-private initiatives focused on integrating financial counseling services into workforce development programs and medical-financial partnerships.
Before Clarifi, Markita spent nearly a dozen years in roles related to real estate law, impact litigation and community development, including several years advocating for fair lending, housing and employment practices and supporting affordable housing transactions.
Markita has served on numerous nonprofit and community-based boards. In 2023 Markita was appointed to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Consumer Advisory Board, a U.S. government agency designed to ensure consumers are treated fairly by banks, lenders, and other financial institutions. In 2021, Markita was appointed to the Board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency which provides housing and economic development opportunities for communities with low incomes. She also became a founding member of the Board of Mobility Works, a consortium of housing groups and policy experts that works to support the economic mobility of families with low incomes. Markita was also appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, to serve as Vice Chair of the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Board which funds organizations providing free civil legal services to Pennsylvanians. She recently ended her tenure as Chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh.
Markita has been featured in local and regional media and has spoken at national conferences on issues ranging from racial disparities in homeownership to social determinants of health. For her service to the Greater Philadelphia community, Markita was honored as a Woman of Distinction by the Philadelphia Business Journal in 2015 and in 2016 was named a Social Mobility Innovator by the Social Innovations Journal. In 2019 she was honored by Lutheran Settlement House with its Women of Courage Visionary Leader Award for her anti-poverty work and she has been named to the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Power 100 list.
A proud native of North Philadelphia, raised in subsidized housing, Markita holds degrees from Brown University and New York University School of Law and studied at the University of Natal in Durban, Republic of South Africa. Outside of work, Markita can be found hanging in Mt. Airy, Philadelphia with her husband and teen sons, at local supermarkets constantly restocking her fridge, and obsessing over the Marvel Cinematic Universe.