About Blueprints
About Blueprints
Marla Y. Newman is the CEO and Principal Consultant of Blueprints and has nearly 20 years of experience working in community development, housing policy and planning.
Marla is the former Executive Director of the Louisiana Housing Alliance (LHA), in Baton Rouge, LA. While at LHA, she was responsible for the organization’s management, strategic direction, program development, and public policy initiatives. In 2011, Marla wrote the legislation that created the Louisiana Housing and Transportation Planning and Coordinating Commission, an advisory commission to the State’s housing finance agency responsible for establishing Louisiana’s first statewide comprehensive housing plan.
Prior to LHA, Marla served as the Director of Economic Development for two different nonprofit housing organizations in Kansas City, MO and served as a Program Officer with the Greater Kansas City Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC). She has managed day-to-day development operations for major redevelopment projects representing over 750 units of housing; supported the creation of over 150 rental and for-sale homes financed with Low Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC), HOME, and Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding, and 8,000 square feet of office and commercial space representing a direct investment of over $2.7 million and generating over $14 million in economic activity; and assisted in development of products and strategies to enhance production by CDCs.
