Chief of Staff to the Deputy Mayor, City of New Orleans
David Lessinger is the Chief of Staff to the Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Resilience Officer for the City of New Orleans. David works to establish resilience as a business practice across city government and the interface between the City’s Office of Resilience and Sustainability with other city departments and agencies. Formerly, David served as the Director of Planning and Strategy at the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) where he worked to enhance NORA’s neighborhood revitalization strategies and managed resilience planning and its connection to NORA’s mission of delivering affordable housing, commercial development projects, and the creative re-use of vacant land. Previously, David was a Deputy Director in the City of New Orleans Code Enforcement and Hearings Bureau where he directed research and analysis. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies & Biology from Oberlin College, a master’s degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University, and a certificate in Urban Redevelopment from the University of Pennsylvania.