An urban planner by training, and an economic developer by trade, George Benson is Senior Manager, Economic Transformation at the Vancouver Economic Commission, working to decarbonize, build resilience, and increase social equity in Vancouver’s massive architecture, engineering, and construction sectors. More broadly, George also supports much of VEC’s green economy and social impact work in different ways.
George brings unique experience from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, together with deep content knowledge in resilience, urban sustainability, global governance, and new economic systems. He works with individual businesses, industry associations, building code developers, global businesses and networks, and researchers on numerous capacity building, coordination, and market transformation initiatives.
Outside of VEC, George is the Global Climate Lead for North America in the World Economic Forum’s young leaders network, the Global Shapers Community, and has been involved in the leadership of the US and Canadian urban planning associations. In 2017, he was recognised by the City of Vancouver with its Award of Excellence for his work on building sustainability and resilience in the community.
