Biography
Jessie has been the Executive Director of Meeting of the Minds since 2010.
Jessie F. Hahn is the Executive Director of Meeting of the Minds. She is an experienced urban planner, specializing in urban-regional policy with a particular focus on sustainability and clean energy. Previously, Jessie launched the successful Regional Energy Policy Program at Regional Plan Association in New York City. She has written numerous articles which have been featured in RPA’s Spotlight on the Region, The Hartford Courant, Urban Age Magazine, The Record, NPR, among others.
Previous to RPA, she worked as a cluster specialist at Economic Competitiveness Group working on competitiveness strategies for global city-regions, particularly the clean-tech sector. Clients included the Inter-American Development Bank (project in Mendoza, Argentina), United Nations Development Programme (project in Southeastern Anatolia Turkey), Marin County Supervisors, and The Oakland Partnership. In 2007, Jessie was selected as a Sustainability Fellow to work at Oregon’s Portland Development Commission.
Her projects have required building the institutional capacity of clients and, often as a prerequisite, creating stronger stakeholder consensus. Jessie has led or facilitated a variety of research projects, stakeholder meetings and other events in order to mobilize leadership. Jessie has helped various public sector agencies to reorient their service offerings as part of a larger effort to meet the needs of the private sector.
Originally from San Rafael California, she holds a BA from Vassar College in Urban Studies and Hispanic Studies (Phi Beta Kappa and Departmental honors) and a Masters in Environment and Development Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Jessie received honors on her Master’s dissertation entitled “Producing the Green Entrepreneurial City: Oregonian Competitive Strategies via Sustainable Industry Clusters.”