Omaha World-Herald
Leslie Smith named new director of Omaha's Land BankWritten By: Marjie Ducey | Updated
The Omaha Municipal Land Bank has named Leslie Smith as its new executive director.
Smith joins the Land Bank after years working in Memphis. She launched the programs created by Blight Authority Memphis Inc. in 2019, a quasi-governmental nonprofit which became a full-scale operational landbank serving the city of Memphis under her leadership.
Through BAM, Smith developed and operationalized the first Land Deposit program within Tennessee, incentivizing affordable housing developments to support blight reduction efforts and promoting innovative green space reuse interventions that supported the stabilization of neighborhoods and spurred economic growth.
The Omaha Land Bank is a catalyst for transforming distressed properties into community assets by acquiring vacant, abandoned or dilapidated properties to transform them into positive neighborhood assets. As the only organization of its kind in Nebraska, the Land Bank is a leading partner in neighborhood revitalization efforts in the Omaha community.
“As I have been transitioning out of the executive director role, I have been looking back on the work we’ve done with nothing but gratitude for the opportunity to serve our community in a position that I believe sets the foundation for success for years to come,” said Shannon Snow, past director “Together we created policies and systems that will forever transform the Land Bank into a tool for the strategic re-use of vacant properties and building generational wealth. These are not small tasks, and I am excited to see how this work is leveraged for greater impact in the future under Leslie’s leadership.”
Smith is looking forward to engaging with the community and learning more about their needs when it comes to purchasing lots from the Land Bank.
“As I have been transitioning out of the executive director role, I have been looking back on the work we’ve done with nothing but gratitude for the opportunity to serve our community in a position that I believe sets the foundation for success for years to come,” said Shannon Snow, past director “Together we created policies and systems that will forever transform the Land Bank into a tool for the strategic re-use of vacant properties and building generational wealth. These are not small tasks, and I am excited to see how this work is leveraged for greater impact in the future under Leslie’s leadership.”
Smith is looking forward to engaging with the community and learning more about their needs when it comes to purchasing lots from the Land Bank.