Change-maker, social entrepreneur and thought leader, Tim Jones has made profound and unique contributions to arts, culture and urban development communities in Toronto, Canada and around the world. Tim’s early career was spent as part of the senior leadership of Toronto’s queer theatre company Buddies in Bad Times Theatre where he built a cultural platform that empowered LGBTQ2S+ artists to define new identities, shift cultural narratives and advance human rights. He then played a catalytic role with the Canada Council for the Arts, helping to strengthen Canada’s national theatre ecosystem, and then joined Artscape as CEO in 1998. Tim’s approaches are deeply rooted in the power of arts and culture as a driver of change, growth and transformation, and he has been recognized as a pre-eminent thought leader in ‘creative placemaking’. He is a trusted advisor to the World Cities Culture Forum and contributor to the World Economic Forum.