Jessica Meaney is working towards a more inclusive decision-making process and equitable resource allocation in Los Angeles public works and transportation funding as a policy advocate.
She has spent two decades advocating for better investment in transportation and public infrastructure in Southern California because she believes we have all the money we need to make our cities work, if we prioritize those expenditures with a plan. From creating the City of L.A.’s first equitable funding plan in its Safe Routes to School Masterplan to creating the first L.A. Countywide fund for active transportation (sidewalks, crosswalks, bicycle lanes and more.), Jessica has come to understand the influence of politics and power on decision-making and tax-dollar spending – how it works and how it’s broken.
Her collaborative work focuses on lifting up the voices of partners and providing policymakers the data and justification for people-focused policies and investments. By leading convenings with partners that public agencies claim they want to hear from but don’t seem to know how to connect with, she actively works to bridge the gap between the policymakers and community leaders who represent those most impacted by policy decisions.
She does this work through the non-profit, Investing in Place, which prioritizes data, best practices, partnerships, and the stories of real people to reveal a new, better way of spending public funds on people’s physical, mental, and economic health.