Wil Jones

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT WIL JONES

I’m an urban planner, technologist, and designer working at the intersection of community data, climate resilience, and digital infrastructure. I recently earned my Master in City Planning from MIT and bring prior experience from The Rockefeller Foundation and 100 Resilient Cities, where I supported place-based investment strategies and resilience planning in frontline communities. At Rockefeller, I managed a $46M grant portfolio that supported over 7,500 small businesses and helped advance institutional commitments to equity and inclusion.At MIT, I served as a Research Associate with both the Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism and the Civic Data Design Lab, where I led the development of People Powered AI—a guide for ethically integrating generative AI into participatory planning. My thesis, Immersive Preservation through 3D Documentation, focused on how LiDAR, photogrammetry, and web-based storytelling can preserve cultural memory and support spatial justice in the Gullah Geechee community of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina. Today I serve as a Founding Principle of GROUND3D, a community planning practice that partners with community-based organizations and city agencies to design tools and strategies for confronting socio-environmental challenges through participatory data collection, strategy development, and research.