Urban Spark
Illuminating Solutions, Igniting Sustainable Change
By empowering governments, institutions, and nonprofits to create inclusive cities grounded in ecological interdependence and universal access
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About Urban Spark
Urban Spark seeks to illuminate solutions for cities and communities to become better places for human and planetary thriving by collaborating with nonprofits, governments, and institutions to invest in place-based solutions.
At the core of this work is:
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Strengthening the care economy, the work that is required to support the wellbeing and development of people, and
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Integrating our urban environment with the natural environment.
The goal is to enable access to opportunities, basic services, and the fundamentals for living safely while reducing stress and creating reliable and resilient environments.
With an eye towards mitigating and adapting to climate change, Urban Spark works to:
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strengthen the public realm, including public space, public transport, and public institutions,
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invest in social infrastructure and participatory processes, and
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integrate nature-based solutions and ecosystem approaches in our urban systems.
Urban Spark strives to give people and institutions the knowledge and tools they need to make decisions, implement projects, and ultimately achieve the transformation we all know this world needs. We can achieve this if we understand that within us is the knowledge and experience, the spark, that can illuminate the path forward. This spark is fuelled by joy, creativity, humor, and community and this undergirds our work.
Aimée E. Gauthier
Founder and Principal
Aimée Gauthier has over two decades of experience working on sustainable transport and urban development in over 12 countries and 25 cities around the world. Her focus has been the intersection of climate change and equity. She bridges programmatic expertise with non-profit management skills, including experience in strategy, program management, organizational development, planning and financial management, fundraising, proposal development and grants management, monitoring and evaluation, and strategic communications. She is adept at synthesizing and communicating complex information into understandable, relatable, and actionable concepts. She holds a master’s degree in urban planning from the University of Michigan and has dual bachelor’s degrees in anthropology and political & social thought from the University of Virginia.
