Jane Jacobs called it a ballet, a soaring, stimulating, and safe place where neighborhoods had density and buildings had character. By the 1960’s, urban planning had changed. Led by Robert Moses, the ballet would come to a grinding halt, with the superblock, the high-rise and the highway. The wrecking ball sealed the fate of neighborhoods. Disinvestment in the mass transit system led to chaos. These two disparate visions of urban planning still live with us every day. But how did this come to pass and what does it mean for us today? Jason has been speaking about the ripple effects of the battle between Jane Jacobs and Robert Moses for the past decade.

For the first time in history, more people live in cities than in rural areas. By 2050, another 2 billion people will occupancy our planet, with two-thirds of them living in cities. While we have reached unprecedented population growth, our planet is under siege and many of our cities are ill-prepared for the coming storm. From climate change, infrastructure, housing, health care and transportation, cities will face historic challenges to meet the demands of the 21st century. How do cities meet these challenges and thrive in the face of them? In FutureCity, Jason takes his audience through the history of cities, and explores contemporary issues that are key to their survival and success.

What does it mean to be in the Business of Good? What are the trade-offs and opportunity costs of aligning your business mission with a social purpose?  This talk reveals the key differences between a marketing campaign and a fulsome corporate approach to social good.  In this talk, best practices for creation, execution, employee buy-in, brand management, and most importantly, consumer acceptance are discussed. Jason explains how The Business of Good, when done right, is more than just a tagline.

In started on December 31, 1999. As the world gathered to celebrate the dawn of a new millennia, the stock market reached all-time high. There was peace in the world and prosperity abounded. There was one concern that evening as the clock struck midnight. There concern was our technology. It turned out, we had it all backwards. A cascade of man-made and natural disasters torn the world asunder. Yet, at the same time, social media was re-stitching it back together. This fusion of a more troubled world, and a more interconnected one, created the Great Convergence and lead to a new way of thinking about solving social problems. But awareness is only the first step. What comes next? Jason takes his audience on a tour through time and explains how understanding the Great Convergence is the key to understanding the next big trends in both consumerism and corporate culture.

Today a new debate is raging in our nation between the benefits of capitalism versus socialism. This political debate is sure to heat up during the 2020 presidential election cycle. Both sides miss the point. Jason has argued for a third way that he calls Capitalism 2.0. There is nothing like a supermarket to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of capitalism. During the Cold War, our supermarkets were propaganda. They were a demonstration of choice, lower price, and a statement of our values. When soviet citizens visited an American supermarket in the 1950’s-1980’s they marveled at the site. Boris Yeltson nearly broke down in tears during his 1988 visit to one in Houston. And yet, the low wages paid at many supermarkets have kept families trapped in poverty. While the supermarket industry makes billions of dollars a year, its workers struggle to get by. In this talk, Jason reveals how retooling capitalism to make it more inclusive is the key to success for our country going forward. There is no one panacea economic system. But we can create a far better one, that enables more in our system to reach new heights. It’s called Capitalism 2.0 and in this talk, Jason reveals how we can make it a reality.