Biography

Chelsea Collier convenes people across sectors to focus on smart cities for the social good. She is the Founder of Digi.City, a forum for supporting the co-creation of smart(er) cities and more connected communities. She also serves as the Editor-at-Large for Smart Cities Connect, which provides news, networking and educational opportunities in the area of smart cities. In Fall 2022, she will begin the doctoral program at the University of Texas’ School of Information. She will also serve as a research assistant to Good Systems, a multidisciplinary team dedicated to investigate how to define, evaluate, and build AI that is beneficial — not detrimental — to humanity.

She is a University of Manchester (UK) Simon Industrial & Professional Fellow (2019), a Marshall Memorial Fellow (2018) and an Eisenhower Fellow (2016). She is also the co-author of the Smart Cities Playbook and the creator of the Digi.City Smart(er) Cities Toolkit. Her work has been featured in Governing Magazine, Inc.com, Venture Beat, Chicago Tribune, Global Trade Magazine and dozens of other publications. Her previous experience in state government, economic development, social enterprise and tech entrepreneurship informs her
cross sector approach. She lives in Austin, Texas and is active in the local tech and social impact communities including serving on the board of the Austin Smart Cities Alliance.

Degrees

MS, School of Communication, UT Austin (2008)
BS, School of Communication, UT Austin (1997)