Moving from community development to banking wasn’t much of a leap for Jennifer LeSar, a senior vice president for Bank of America. As a long-time advocate and developer of affordable housing, she serves the bank as an investment manager structuring investments that preserve historic landmarks.

Her most satisfying accomplishment was playing a role in relocating 800 immigrants from a homeless encampment in the Del Mar basin to housing. At the time, she was working as the executive director of a nonprofit community housing association. “We got the kids into schools, and the women were able to get jobs,” she says. “These people moved from shanties to real homes. The real estate market was much different then.”

The endeavor played out over eight months, and LeSar, 39, says it has stayed with her because of the positive impact the program made on the lives of those 600 single men and 200 family members.

Today her work takes her in a bit of a different direction, but she still volunteers her personal time with groups that help the disadvantaged. Her job is investing in historic buildings and restoration. Last year she helped fund the restoration of San Francisco’s historic Ferry Building.

LeSar dedicates her time serving on the boards at the Centre City Development Corp. and the San Diego Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center. “Both take plenty of time,” says LeSar. Her work on the LGBT board and her fiscal savvy have aided the center in a financial turnaround and more than $1 million renovation completed in April.

If she has any spare time, LeSar can be found on or at the soccer field. An avid player, she also is a die-hard fan of the San Diego Spirit.

— Maria L. Kirkpatrick