Juan Sebastian Arias is the Executive Director of Elevated Chicago, a multi-sector collaborative of residents, community organizations, artists, developers, community development financial institutions, activists, and city officials that promotes more equitable development of public spaces, buildings and vacant land around Chicago’s public transit infrastructure (also known as equitable transit-oriented development, or ETOD).
Juan Sebastian is a strategic and collaborative leader with 15 years of experience working to advance racial equity and social justice in cities. He has a proven record of building trusted partnerships across broad sets of stakeholders to advance community-led systemic change with specific expertise in equitable policy development, urban planning, housing, and community development.
Previously, Juan Sebastian served as First Deputy of Policy under Mayors Brandon Johnson and Lori E. Lightfoot, where he played a leadership role in stewarding strategic policy initiatives, including the landmark 2022 Connected Communities (Equitable Transit-Oriented Development) Ordinance, the We Will Chicago citywide plan, establishing Chicago’s first ever Food Equity Council, and advancing the Bring Chicago Home proposal to generate dedicated revenue for addressing homelessness, among other initiatives. He has previously worked with the Metropolitan Planning Council, Enterprise Community Partners, and Living Cities, among other positions.
A proud Chicago native and son of Ecuadorian immigrants, Juan Sebastian grew up across Avondale, Logan Square and Jefferson Park. He has a bachelor’s degree in Social Studies from Harvard College and a masters’ degree in City Planning from the University of California – Berkeley. He now lives back in Logan Square with his partner Iván and enjoys biking, hiking, visiting family, and playing with his nieces and nephew. His preferred pronouns are he/him/él.
