Founding Principal

Laura Settlemyer is the Founding Principal of Levee Civic Solutions (LCS). A results-oriented real-estate, housing, and land-use attorney with a foundation in economics, Laura has considerable technical and legal expertise working with community members and state and local government leaders in neighborhood stabilization, community development, public policy, and land bank and redevelopment authority strategy. She is skilled in bridging law, policy, and community interests, and dedicated to working with communities to turn obstacles into opportunities for neighborhood revitalization.

Before launching LCS, Laura served as In-House Counsel for the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority, leading the legal department, managing outside counsel, representing the agency in litigation, and advising executive leadership on land use, real estate, and government contracts.

Previously, Laura was the founding Executive Director of the Hartford Land Bank, where she secured millions in startup funding and authored statewide legislation creating land banking and receivership tools in Connecticut. As Hartford’s Director of Blight Remediation, she overhauled the city’s housing and anti-blight codes and built systems that returned hundreds of vacant properties to productive use. As Assistant General Counsel for Michigan Initiatives for Center for Community Progress, she provided technical assistance to land banks across Michigan, working most closely with the Detroit Land Bank Authority and the Michigan Association of Land Banks. She began her career in New Orleans, first in private practice for several years and then as a city attorney under Mayor Mitch Landrieu, advising on government contracts, housing, code enforcement, and post-Katrina recovery.

A nationally recognized contributor to the fields of blight remediation and neighborhood revitalization, Laura frequently speaks at conferences and universities on innovative approaches to land use and community development. She holds an A.B. (B.A.) in Economics from Harvard University and a J.D. from Emory University School of Law.