Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin will head up the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a group that fights poverty throughout the U.S., the Associated Press reports.

Rubin -- who left the Clinton administration in July -- will take over as board chairman of the New York-based group. LISC helps finance the work of nonprofit community development corporations. It is these local community groups that contribute to the economic development of poverty-stricken areas, AP reports.

Since it was established in 1979, LISC has raised about $3 billion for local groups. AP reports the organization used $605 million in 1998 to help community groups construct "affordable housing and provide such services as child care, education and health care."

Rubin succeeds John P. Mascotte as the organization's chairman.

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