Gina D. Nisbeth is the founder and president of 9th & Clinton, a national Black woman–owned consulting firm that brings strategic advisory and investment structuring expertise to real estate developers, fund managers, nonprofits, and organizations seeking to invest in low-income communities for lasting impact. For her clients, Gina is not just an advisor—she is a trusted partner in building programs, sourcing capital, expanding executive capacity, and translating market trends into real-world opportunity.

With 30 years in structured finance, including 15 in community development finance, Gina has spent her career unlocking capital to fuel inclusive growth. At Citibank, she managed a $1 billion New Markets Tax Credit portfolio and an $800 million private equity portfolio spanning affordable housing and small business assets. In 2020, she helped channel $200 million in private equity to emerging diverse fund managers and facilitated $30 million in affordable housing construction loan participations with minority depository institutions (MDIs)—pioneering pathways to scale capital access for historically overlooked communities.

Her expertise was sharpened by a decade on Wall Street as a short-term fixed income derivatives trader, where she grew Citi’s platform from $6 to $43 billion, steering it through the turbulence of the 2007–2009 financial crisis. Gina’s ability to pivot—between trading floors, boardrooms, and community development organizations—has defined her career. “If I had to sum it all up in one word, I am most proud of my pivots,” she reflects. “Each one stretched me in necessary ways and was both professionally and personally transformational.”

Beyond her consulting practice, Gina is also a co-founder of Open Access, a nonprofit fellowship dedicated to increasing the representation of diverse leaders in community development finance. Since its launch in 2020, 72% of its 117 fellows have secured professional roles in the industry. She also chairs the board of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL) and serves on the board of Stonehenge Community Development. In recognition of her leadership, she was awarded the Robert E. Ibanez Award for Outstanding Achievement in Community Development.

For Gina, impact is deeply personal. The name 9th & Clinton honors the two streets where she grew up in Washington, D.C., and Brooklyn—both low-income neighborhoods at the time. “I define and measure my impact by the financing tools I can deliver to the marketplace,” she explains.

Real estate, with its capacity to preserve and grow wealth in America, is one of the most valuable investment vehicles we have to address wealth inequities in Black and Brown communities.

She also brings her lessons learned from a three-decade career into guidance for others: 

• “It really is the art of the deal. If you can strike a better deal, you should. If you can’t, and you want one, you’ve got homework to do.” 
• “If you think something was weird, it probably was. Trust your gut.” 
• “Don’t take it personally.” 

When asked what she would tell her younger self, she’s direct: “In a corporate environment, you can only get so far without sponsors. Seek them like your job, promotions, and compensation depend on them—because they do.”

Outside of her professional accomplishments, Gina is a writer with a prescriptive memoir-in-progress based loosely on her Wall Street journey. But her proudest role is personal: she is mom to two grown children and “Gigi” to her six-year-old grandson.

Through her work, leadership, and example, Gina Nisbeth is proving that the tools of structured finance can be wielded for equity, access, and transformation—redefining what impact looks like, one community at a time.