Born-and-raised in Winnipeg, Jason has a passion for people and places and has worked towards realizing these human-centered connections through a variety of urban management and city planning roles. As a queer person of colour, Jason offers a special perspective to the field of city planning. His experience as the “other” in public space plays a significant role in his practice ㅡ in how he perceives people and the skills/perspectives they offer; and how cities are tools toward inclusion and representation.

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During his tenure at the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, Jason worked with a highly-creative team to build and inspire a safer, more resilient, and inclusive downtown through creative placemaking and tactical urbanism, stakeholder and political engagement, research and market intelligence, media relations, and community consultation. He is an award-winning marketing and communications professional who, in this role, developed city-wide campaigns that have generated hundreds of thousands of downtown visits from local and out-of-province tourists and millions of dollars worth of earned media coverage. In this capacity, Jason also served as a primary spokesperson for the organization and signing authority for all budgetary expenditures. He is regarded by downtown management practitioners as a consummate collaborator and effective downtown advocate, and was selected as one of four Canadian fellows as part of the International Downtown Association (IDA) Emerging Fellows Program.

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Jason is passionate about helping communities generate ideas for their future. As a Land Use and Community Planner with HTFC Planning & Design, Jason led both both short-term and long-term development planning efforts with Manitoba towns, including Pinawa, RM of Ritchot, Stonewall, Waywayseecappo, and Woodlands. Within city limits, he worked on projects related to corridors and greenspaces, recreation, bridge design, bicycle infrastructure, and Indigenous reconciliation. More recently, Jason joined the City of Edmonton as a Principal Planner, leading policy and development efforts for greater infill in downtown, mature, and core neighbourhoods. As a professional member of the Canadian Institute of Planners (CIP), he is committed to bringing about consensus between varied stakeholders and to develop localized capacity in the areas of planning, implementation, and monitoring/evaluation.

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Jason volunteers his time on a variety of Winnipeg boards and committees interested in homelessness alleviation and promotion of the arts. He spearheaded the first CEO Sleepout in Canada, which fundraised close to a million dollars to support employment programs for individuals experiencing homelessness.