About the Alliance
Formed in late 2017 as an initiative of the Denver South Economic Development Partnership and established as a standalone nonprofit organization in 2018; the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance is the first state-wide alliance of government, business and allied organizations dedicated to advancing smarter communities in the United States.
VISION
A statewide digital and collaborative ecosystem that improves quality of life for all Coloradans
MISSION
Create technology partnerships that develop and prove next-generation solutions to the challenges shared across Colorado communities
VALUES
Sustainability | Mitigate the environmental, social, and economic impacts of human activity
Equity | Address disparities in qualify of life outcomes associated with race, income, and inclusion
Resilience | Absorb shocks to community systems and infrastructure to maintain qualify of life
Humanism | Ensure the needs of people inform technology – not the other way around
Staff
Tyler became the Executive Director of the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance in 2019, which is the first and only statewide coalition of public, private, academic and research organizations committed to advancing smart cities initiatives across sectors and jurisdictions. Tyler leads the membership-based organization as it develops a new model for project identification, replication, and scale.
Chelsea joined the team at the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance in 2021. Her role is focused on expanding the Alliance’s reach and impact through different communications channels, including events, website, social media, and the pursuit of new engagement opportunities.
Board Members
Ryan holds a BA in Economics from Colorado College, an MBA from Regis University, and sits on the Board of Directors for the Colorado Smart Cities Alliance.
Formerly John was the president of PositivEnergy Practice, an systems engineering firm based on data-driven planning for new building design, retrofits, and urban design.
John’s career has focused on developing and applying technology to improve the urban environment. From 2011 to 2013 he was Chief Technology Officer for the City of Chicago, leveraging technology to streamline public services through more efficient data-sharing, digital communications, and next-generation infrastructure. He led the development of ‘The City of Chicago Technology Plan’, an initiative that sets forth a series of public-private strategies to accelerate economic growth, build educated and digitally-engaged communities and workforce, improve government services, and reduce costs through technology.
In 2012, the White House recognized John as a ‘Champion of Change’ as part of a group of creative individuals engaged in building stronger communities through innovative approaches to problem-solving.
Prior to joining the City of Chicago, he was Director of Citizenship and Technology at IBM Corp, where he worked on the firm’s ‘smarter cities’ initiative, advising cities how to incorporate data analytics into planning and operations. John led the City Forward project, the first global aggregator and visualizer of urban data sets.
Significant projects include the Wuhan, China Erqi District Parametric Model and Master Plan, Astana, Kazakhstan Expo 2017 Master Plan, The Broadband Challenge, Open Data/Civic Innovation, Open 311, and the City of Chicago Technology Action Plan.
Michael earned his Masters of Public Administration from the University of Colorado, Denver and a Bachelors of Arts in Political Science from the University of California, San Diego. He has written several articles and presented to national audiences on the topics of employee retention and the role of empathy in local government.
In 2020, Michael helped Aurora craft its first ever smart city strategic plan, the Smart City Playbook. He has worked extensively on laying groundwork for cities in Colorado to acquire streetlights from utilities to better prepare for a smart city future. Michael’s interest in smart city technology lies in giving local governments better tools to love and serve their residents. Improved governance, resident engagement, and electric vehicle infrastructure are Michael’s specific areas of interest.
Michael is married with two young children and a dog.
Since the early 2000’s, Tom has worked in the scale-up and start-up space in Denver in a variety of roles for approximately 20 companies. Outside of work Tom enjoys spending time with his wife and adult children traveling and enjoying the Colorado lifestyle.
Johanna Jamison, MPA, is a program manager in the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (IEC) at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. She is currently leading lab-to-market programs including the Shell GameChanger Accelerator™ Powered by NREL (GCxN), which spurs promising cleantech start-ups through financial, facility, and research resources. Johanna is also collaborating to design and launch new tech incubation programs that support the IEC’s mission of building a cleantech ecosystem to empower market solutions that transform communities around the world.
Prior to joining NREL Johanna managed a range of programs, projects, and policies in government, private, and nonprofit settings spanning smart cities, economic development, mobility and transportation, environmental quality, affordable housing, and placemaking and revitalization. Among these were an innovation challenge that attracted solutions from across the globe for deployment in Colorado, the local presence of an international mobility services joint venture, and state programs totaling $1M+ in financial and technical assistance to catalyze community economic development.
Johanna holds a Masters in Public Administration with a concentration in Environmental Policy, Management, and Law from the University of Colorado Denver and a Bachelors in City and Metropolitan Planning from the University of Utah. While away from the office, Johanna enjoys experimenting in the kitchen, spoiling her dog, and adventuring outdoors.
Prior to joining RTD, Riley served as the Managing Director of Nelson/Nygaard, a national transportation planning firm known for its progressive approach and commitment to mobility, equity, economic development and health living.
Riley also served as the Director of Transportation for the City of Portland, OR from 2013 – 2018. Under her leadership, the Portland Bureau of Transportation was one of seven finalist cities in the USDOT Smart Cities Challenge. After the culmination of the challenge, Riley continued the body of work by starting new programs centered on solving mobility challenges through autonomous and electric vehicles, universalizing data and information availability, piloting new and emerging technologies, and leveraging private sector investments. Riley also partnered with Nike to launch the largest smart-bike system in the country at the time.
Riley has also served in executive roles in the Chicago Department of Transportation and the District Department of Transportation.
Prior to DEN, Rebecca served as the Continuous Improvement Manager for the Regional Transportation District (RTD) where she took pride in supporting an organization that improves access and creates opportunity for all.
Rebecca holds Masters degrees in Business Administration and Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Colorado, Denver, and a Bachelor’s in Economics from McGill University. Having worked extensively in the transportation industry, Rebecca is completely fascinated with the systems that move people around the region, state, and the world.