Staff

O. Victoria Lakes-Battle

Chief Regional and Markets Officer

O. Victoria (“Vickie”) Lakes-Battle is chief regional and market officer at IFF, where she leads regional and market strategy across the organization’s footprint. With more than 30 years of experience spanning commercial lending, community development finance, and market leadership, she brings a strong track record of structuring partnerships and strategies that connect capital, policy, and implementation in service of equitable community development.

Vickie’s work sits at the intersection of market strategy, external engagement, and cross-functional execution. She is particularly skilled at identifying where public priorities, philanthropic interest, community need, and private-sector opportunity can be aligned to advance meaningful projects and broader market impact. Over the course of her career, she has built and led strategic relationships with developers, public-sector leaders, financial institutions, philanthropy, and community-based organizations, and is known for bringing both strategic clarity and practical insight to complex community development challenges.

Prior to becoming chief regional and markets officer, Vickie served as IFF’s first executive director for the Chicago Metro region. She currently serves as the board chair for Arts Alliance Illinois, the vice chair for Forefront, and is on the Board of Directors for Chicago Commons and AMPT Chicago. She also serves on the Chicago Food Equity Council and the Steering Committee of Elevated Chicago. Vickie’s track record positions her as a success benchmark for leaders in the commercial and mission lending and equitable community development space.

Vickie holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Chicago State University.