About me

Hi, I’m Jess Scully. I’m Executive Director of RadicalxChange, a foundation and global network that sparks imagination for transformative systems change. Through our experiments and collaborations, RxC is building the foundations of the next economy, a revitalized democracy, robust commoning and decentralized systems for 21st century governance.

I am also a Non Executive Director of Parents for Climate, a member of Women for Election’s Political Advisory Board and Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab. My book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World, offers solutions to the climate and inequality crises. I am also undertaking Higher Degree Research in Political Philosophy, focusing on overlapping consensus and imaginative hope, at the University of Sydney. 

During my time as an elected Councillor and Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney I successfully established a Meanwhile Use housing model to address gendered violence and the housing crisis; introduced a framework for an inclusive economy through Community Wealth Building; and encouraged the city to undertake a citizens’ jury to shape its 2030-2050 strategic plan.

I spent three years as a World Bank consultant designing policy and institutional reform for urban transformation in Indonesia; served as a policy advisor to the NSW Minister for the Arts; hosted Saturday Afternoons on ABC Radio; and founded and directed Vivid Ideas, Australia’s largest creative industries event.

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 champions radical imagination for systemic transformation. She is the Executive Director of RadicalxChange and author of Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

  • Jess Scully champions radical imagination for systemic transformation. She is currently Executive Director of RadicalxChange and has served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney, on the Board of Parents for Climate, and on Women for Election’s Political Advisory Board. She offers solutions to the climate and inequality crises in book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

  • Jess Scully is Executive Director of RadicalxChange, a foundation and global network deploying creativity and technology to upgrade democracy and prototype new market dynamics.

    Previously, Jess served as Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney; directed Australia’s largest creative industries festival; and worked as a World Bank consultant, ministerial policy adviser, curator, editor, and radio host. She is currently a Non-Executive Director of Parents for Climate, a member of Women for Election’s Political Advisory Board, and a Senior Associate at the Sydney Policy Lab.

    She offers solutions to the climate and inequality crises in her book, Glimpses of Utopia: Real Ideas for a Fairer World.

Headshots

Photography credit: Hugh Stewart

Photography credit: Jacquie Manning

Photography credit: Aby Felman