Executive Director of the Ohio Land Bank Association
Shawn Carvin is a native of Warren, Ohio with over 13 years of experience in Ohio’s land banking community. Shawn is currently serving as the Executive Director of the Ohio Land Bank Association (OLBA), where he leads advocacy, lobbying, and technical assistance support to Ohio’s 71 county land banks. The OLBA has been instrumental in assisting communities addressing affordable housing, reducing blight, and securing crucial resources. Prior to his role at OLBA, Shawn served as the Trumbull County Land Bank Director at Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership for 10 years. Shawn led the organization from its infancy, and he made significant strides in transforming his community through blight remediation, homeownership opportunities and creative vacant land reuse projects. Shawn has a deep-rooted commitment to revitalizing communities through innovative land banking strategies and creating healthy homes and neighborhoods for Ohioans. Shawn is a U.S. Air Force Veteran and graduate of Youngstown State University. While now working statewide, he remains involved in his local community, serving on several nonprofit boards and regularly participating in volunteer work. He resides in Downtown Warren, Ohio with his partner.
This session will explore how land banks are evolving from blight removal entities into strategic partners in local economic development. Drawing on real projects from communities across Ohio, the panel will highlight how land banks are assembling land, clearing title, and reducing risk to make redevelopment possible in places where the private market alone often falls short. Attendees will gain a practical understanding of how land banks support housing development, downtown revitalization, and catalytic investment, along with the partnerships and tools that make these projects work. The session will focus on replicable approaches, lessons learned, and how communities of varying sizes can leverage land banks to unlock opportunity and drive sustainable growth.