About me

I am an author, city-maker and advocate for an expanded civic imagination as a foundation for a fair and sustainable future. I have served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and worked as a festival director, policy advisor, curator, strategist, and presenter. I am a World Bank consultant on sustainable urbanism and a Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. My first book is Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

Photography credit: Hugh Stewart, 2022

Awards & recognition

  • 2023: Community Recognition Statement, NSW Parliament

  • 2021: Shortlist, Australian Book Industry Awards

  • 2021: Time Out Sydney, Future Shaper: Civics

  • 2015: Australian Design Honours, Australian Design Centre

  • 2013: FBI Radio, Sydney Music Arts and Culture Awards, Person of the Year

  • 2012: Sydney Magazine 100 Most Influential Sydneysiders

  • 2007: Winner, British Council Realise Your Dream

Jess Miller and Jess Scully in Marie Claire, March 2018

Jess Scully and daughter Elinor in Marie Claire,
March 2020

On the cover of the Wentworth Courier,
September 2021

Third-person bios

  • Jess Scully is an author and city-maker whose book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, illuminates solutions to the climate and inequality crises.

  • Jess Scully is an author, curator and city-maker who uses creativity to inspire people to participate in shaping a sustainable and inclusive future. She was an elected Councillor of the City of Sydney from 2016 to 2023 and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2019 to 2022. Her first book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, is published by Pantera Press.

  • Jess Scully is an author, city-maker and advocate for an expanded civic imagination to empower us to create a fair and sustainable future. She was an elected Councillor of the City of Sydney from 2016 to 2023 and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2019 to 2022.

    Over the last two decades Jess has worked as a festival director, policy adviser, cultural strategist, public art curator, magazine editor and radio host. She is a World Bank consultant on sustainable urbanism and a Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Her first book is Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

  • Jess Scully is an author, city-maker and advocate for an expanded civic imagination to empower us to create a fair and sustainable future. As Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney from 2019 to 2022 and as a Councillor at the City of Sydney from 2016 to 2023, Jess introduced new models to address the housing crisis and support a more inclusive economy, worked to embed culture in the life of the city and revive Sydney's nightlife, and advocated to expand who plays a role in shaping the life of the city.

    Previously, Jess founded and directed Vivid Ideas, Australia’s largest creative industries event; supported emerging talent through the Qantas Spirit of Youth Awards; transformed public space as an urbanism consultant and public art curator, served as a policy advisor to the NSW Minister for the Arts and hosted Saturday Afternoons on ABC Radio.

    She is currently a World Bank consultant contributing to sustainable urban development in Indonesia and Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. Her first book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, was published by Pantera Press and shortlisted in the Australian Book Industry Awards in 2021.

Headshots

Photography credit: Hugh Stewart, 2022

Photography credit: Jack Begbie, 2021

Photography credit: Aby Felman, 2022