Kristin Gisleson Palmer served on the New Orleans City Council from 2010-2014 as Councilmember for District “C". Her district encompassed the French Quarter, Faubourg Marigny, Treme, St. Roch, Bywater, and Algiers neighborhoods. Her top initiatives included regionalism within the transportation sector, expansion of streetcar lines, and increasing the number of bike paths throughout the City. She was an advocate for improving the quality of life of New Orleans citizens, blight reduction and economic development post-Katrina.

During her term she served as chair of the Transportation, Sanitation and Environmental, and Disaster and Recovery committees, and the Joint Development Committee that oversees the development of Federal City in Algiers. She also server as a board member for the Algiers Development District, the French Market Corporation, Canal Street Development Corporation, the Rivergate Development Corporation, the New Orleans Tourism Marketing Corporation and the New Orleans Building Corporation.

Kristin Gisleson Palmer attended high school at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans and college at St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri. She has been a lifelong resident of New Orleans, residing in Algiers with her husband, Bobby Palmer, and their three daughters.

She was the former Executive Director of Rebuilding Together New Orleans, a non-profit that assisted elderly, disabled, and low-income residents return to their homes post-Katrina. Additionally, she founded Confetti Kids, a non-profit group concerned with improving the quality of life of children in Algiers Point through the renovation of parks and playgrounds, and was a founding board member of Evacuteer.org, a non-profit that recruits, trains, and manages evacuation volunteers to assist with New Orleans’ public City Assisted Evacuation (CAE) program. She was elected to represent New Orleans City Council District "C" in May 2010.

She received the National Trust for Historic Preservation Award in 2009 and the City Business Women of the Year Award in 2007. In 2013, she was elected to serve as the first chairperson of the Louisiana Intrastate Rail Compact and was recognized as Legislator of the Year by the Alliance for Good Government. She has been selected for fellowship programs including the inaugural Smart Growth America Local Leaders Council as an Advisory Board member, the Aspen Institute's Rodel Fellowship Program, the New Orleans Regional Leadership Institute (NORLI), and the national network of NewDEAL Leaders.

Palmer was elected to City Council for a second term in 2018 representing District C.