Jess Zimbabwe

Jess Zimbabwe was named executive director of the Urban Land Institute Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in February 2009. She serves as the Rose Center’s first executive director, overseeing the Daniel Rose Fellowship for city leaders, educational programs for local government officials, and forums on topics in public/private real estate development.

Previously, Jess was the director of the Mayors’ Institute on City Design. In that capacity she worked with over 125 American mayors and cities to help local leaders better understand issues of urban design so that they could advocate for better built environments in their own communities. Prior to that, Jess served as the community design director at Urban Ecology in San Francisco, California, providing pro bono community planning and design assistance to low-income neighborhoods in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Jess is a licensed architect, certified city planner, and a LEED-Accredited professional.

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