Chief Executive
Lendistry
Sands founded Lendistry 10 years ago to make capital more accessible and affordable for woman- and minority-owned small businesses. Since then, the non-bank lender, based in downtown, has deployed more than $10 billion in small business loans and grants to more than 640,000 underserved small businesses. Last year, Sands launched Lendistry Home Loans to provide residential mortgage loan opportunities to underserved communities as well as access to financial literacy content. Sands won the L.A. Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Corporate Leadership Award in February. He serves on the boards of The Penn Institute for Urban Research, Goodwill of Orange County and the Center for Strategic Economic Studies and Institutional Development.
YEARS ON LA500: 2
