What’s your name?
My name is Jakob. I also go by Jake 
What’s your background?
- Education: I’m a business student at Mount Royal University, graduating April 2025.
- Volunteering: I volunteer with Unsprawling, More Neighbours Calgary, and Strong Towns Calgary. I am also one of many who help run and maintain this shared space.
- Work: I’ve worked as a student policy analyst at Global Affairs Canada since January 2023.
What perspectives do you bring to Unsprawling?
I believe communities become empowered when we enable connections beyond the silos we often find ourselves in. My hope is for Unsprawling to play a role in the cross-pollination of ideas, actions, and resources.
What do you love about Calgary, and how would you like to see it improve?
I love our rivers, our valleys, and recreational pathway systems; I love the many passionate organizations we have working towards an equitable city; I love the reach of our transit network for the most part; and I love the resiliency and adaptability our city shows in the face of great challenges, whether that be flooding, water main breaks, or the housing crisis.
I want to see our city improve and invest in many areas:
- Housing as a right (market, non-market, supportive, free options)
- Transportation as a right (public transit frequency, protected bike infrastructure, wider sidewalks, car-free streets, street design, zoning and parking reform)
- Education as a right (comprehensive, highly-available, free, K-12 & post-secondary)
- Food as a right (urban agriculture and markets, pay-what-you-can shops, free essentials option)
- Healthcare as a right (comprehensive universal, highly-available, free)
- Living-wage employment as a right (unionized/co-operative job opportunities and training)
- Environmental Protection & Resiliency (public greenspace and tree canopy expansion, urban agriculture, reduce the sprawl)
What inspired you to join our movement and what are you hoping to achieve with us?
I found myself joining organizations where people were unaware of the events, initiatives, and actions already being done by other organizations. Sometimes these were very similar to what that other organization was trying to achieve. Sometimes the organizations were totally unaware of the others existence entirely. Unsprawling can be the web that lets ideas flow freely between stakeholders and for which ideas can broadcasted. Overall, I hope to help build an equitable Calgary.