John Laswick

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 

  • Deputy Director, Entitlement Communities Division
  • Team Leader, Neighborhood Stabilization Program 
  • Program Manager, Chicago Field Office

Principal, Smart Development Services 

  • Consulting to Public and Private Sector Clients 

City of Tucson, AZ 

  • Manager, Sustainable Communities Program

John Laswick enjoyed a long career in the field of community development in a wide range of positions. His experience includes twenty-two years with the federal government and twelve at the local government level, as well as nine years in the private and non-profit sectors.

He spent ten years with the Department of Housing and Urban Development in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and Chicago. As a commercial mortgage banker, he financed over 750 apartments and assisted living units in Arizona and Colorado. For the City of Tucson, he led the team that developed Civano, an award-winning 800 acre sustainable master-planned community. As a consultant, he obtained numerous grants on behalf of public and non-profit entities. The Children’s Advocacy Center in Tucson, engaged him as project manager to facilitate the design and financing for a 63,000 square foot facility for abused children. Returning to HUD in 2008, he played a major role in the creation and implementation of policy for the seven billion dollar Neighborhood Stabilization Program. In Tucson as a volunteer, he financed three art-space projects in downtown Tucson with 22 housing units, 30 studio spaces, with gallery and commercial spaces. This experience with “surreal estate” prepared him well for the NSP program.

His broad base of experience enables Mr. Laswick to understand and resolve complex problems in program design and management. Mr. Laswick combines creativity and perseverance to attain optimal results. He earned a BA from the University of Michigan and a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.