Chief Executive Officer

Markita Morris-Louis (Lou-wee), Esq. proudly serves as Chief Executive Officer for Compass Working Capital, a national nonprofit engaging in systems change through policy advocacy, direct service by pairing asset building opportunities with financial coaching, and capacity building for other asset building organizations; all to end asset poverty for families with low-incomes and to narrow the racial and gender wealth divides. Markita’s 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. Prior to becoming CEO, Markita was Compass’ founding Chief Strategy Officer, leading the organization’s national strategy for scale and impact.

Before 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 financial and housing counselors serving 15,000 clients annually and built and managed multiple strategic alliances and partnerships.

Before Clarifi, Markita spent a dozen years in roles related to real estate law, economic justice, 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. Markita was appointed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to serve as Vice Chair of the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts Board which funds organizations providing free civil legal services to Pennsylvanians. She previously chaired the Affordable Housing Advisory Council of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh and is currently on the Board of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, serving as Chair of the Policy Committee. In 2023, Markita was appointed to serve on the Consumer Advisory Board of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Markita has been featured in local and national 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 and has been named a Social Mobility Innovator by the Social Innovations Journal. She was also honored by Lutheran Settlement House with its Women of Courage Visionary Leader Award and received the Advancing the Field Award by Regional Housing Legal Services for her work in affordable housing. Markita was most recently named to the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Power 100 list. 

A proud native of North Philadelphia and raised in subsidized rental housing, Markita is a daughter, wife, mother of Black sons, and mentor, and 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. Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Markita believes that “the problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power.”