Todd Leavitt, New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative

Todd Leavitt works on a variety of projects, including neighborhood commercial revitalization, in Central City with the New Orleans Neighborhood Development Collaborative. Mr. Leavitt has also worked in New Orleans for ACORN as a Community Revitalization Specialist in the Lower Ninth Ward, primarily focused on bringing community parks back to the area and programming a design center to assist residents returning to the area.

Prior to being selected for a CURExPenn fellowship, Mr. Leavitt served as the Executive Director of Main Street South Orange in South Orange, NJ. In this capacity, Mr. Leavitt focused on strengthening the organization's role in downtown management. He worked to recruit new businesses to the downtown area and increased promotion of downtown South Orange through advertising and special events that included a farmer’s market. He also recruited new volunteers and organizations that increased community involvement in downtown issues.

Mr. Leavitt also worked as a Catalyst Coordinator for Partnerships for Parks in New York. By acting as a liaison between community groups, government agencies and local businesses, Mr. Leavitt raised awareness of park related issues. By the end of his tenure Mr. Leavitt had increased park funding and the number of volunteer groups, improved park maintenance and added new programming to historic Fort Greene Park.

Mr. Leavitt earned his BA in Landscape Architecture from Louisiana State University and graduated Magna Cum Laude with a MS in Urban Affairs from Hunter College.