Brian Murray is CEO and co-founder of SHIFT Capital, a social impact urban real estate group and Certified B-­Corp, headquartered in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia.

Prior to starting SHIFT, Murray spent much of his career outside of the real estate industry, starting at Pricewaterhouse-Coopers as an auditor. He then moved into the technology space and helped found two start-ups, before joining the Peace Corps, and receiving an MBA from the Yale School of Management.

SHIFT invests in neighborhoods and creates projects that the community has a real say in — with access to the process and equity in its outcomes.

The real estate group uses mission-oriented capital, collaborative resources, and inclusive strategies to work towards solutions at the intersection of society’s most difficult urban challenges — inter-generational poverty, revitalization, access to opportunity, and community displacement.

“Our theory of change,” Murray points out, “is to invest in catalytic projects in underserved communities and then to invest all around that real estate in a holistic, at-scale way in which we feel like we can tip the scales of community wealth building and community development.”

In this conversation, Murray discusses SHIFT's comprehensive approach to neighborhood development. He also talks about how impacts of COVID-19 are being felt by Kensington’s small business community and what can be done to help those businesses pull through the economic turmoil of this epidemic.