J.J. Folsom provides a wide range of planning and project management support to Community Builders projects and programs. He brings 30 years of experience managing and leading planning projects for neighborhoods, downtowns, and corridors, with a particular focus on affordable housing needs. A key component of all of the projects he has led, includes facilitating both traditional and targeted community outreach processes, which often include stakeholder interviews, resident focus groups, and discussions and presentations with elected officials to name a few.
J.J. is currently the Community Builders project manager for the Colorado Department of Housing Local Officials Toolkit, a 3-year statewide program to improve the ability of local officials to understand and respond to the unique sets of housing challenges their communities are facing. Prior to joining Community Builders, J.J. has worked in some of Colorado’s most respected urban design, economic development, and transportation planning consulting firms, including P.U.M.A., Civitas, MIG, and Charlier Associates.
J.J. is an AICP certified planner and member of the Colorado APA. J.J. and has spoken at several state conferences. He is an active member of the Colorado Chapter of the Urban Land Institute and has served on several ULI national healthy corridors panels and workshops. He served on the City of Denver Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Committee from 2014-2022. He holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of Colorado Denver and a bachelor’s degree in landscape architecture from the University of Arizona.
J.J. lives in Denver, Colorado, with his partner Val, children Jacqueline (20) and Leah (17), and dog Pippa (4) . In his spare time, he is an avid road and mountain cyclist and has ridden several routes of the Tour de France though France and Spain. On most weekends you may see him riding his bike around the Denver metro foothills or somewhere in the Colorado Rockies.
jj@communitybuilders.org