Markita Morris-Louis

Chief Strategy Officer, Compass Working Capital
Markita Morris-Louis
About Markita

Markita Morris-Louis joined Compass as the organization’s founding Chief Strategy Officer in June 2019. In this role, Markita leads Compass’ national strategy for increased scale and impact, and oversees the organization’s growing body of work in the Philadelphia area.

Markita’s career path and personal interests have taken her to roles in financial capability, real estate law, community development, and the performing arts. Most recently, Markita served as the Executive Director of the Arts + Business Council for Greater Philadelphia. Prior to joining the Arts and Business Council, she served 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. She built and managed multiple strategic alliances and partnerships, including innovative public-private initiatives focused on integrating financial counseling services into workforce development programs, medical partnerships, and the city’s financial empowerment centers. Markita also led the development and execution of philanthropic and business development strategies, including establishing and maintaining funding relationships with foundations and government agencies raising over $2M annually and developing fee-for-service engagements with employers, financial institutions, and other firms.

Prior to joining Clarifi, Markita spent nearly a dozen years in roles related to real estate law and community development, including several years advocating for fair lending practices for low-income consumers and supporting affordable housing transactions at Regional Housing Legal Services in Pennsylvania, the New Economy Project in NY, and Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs in Washington, D.C.

She has served on numerous nonprofit and community-based boards, and is currently Vice Chair of the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh Board and a trustee of the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Board, which operates under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Markita received an A.B. in Africana Studies (Honors) and Anthropology from Brown University and a J.D. from New York University School of Law. She also holds a certificate in Development Studies from the University of Natal, Durban, Republic of South Africa.

Markita Morris-Louis