I have developed mission plans, social impact and engagement strategies for some of Australia’s fastest-growing tech, creative and human services companies, including Canva (2022) and Hireup (2019). I developed the cultural infrastructure program for the winning bid for Barangaroo Central (2015-2017). I worked with the University of NSW Dean of Art and Design (2017) to establish the Sydney Culture Network, to coordinate and promote Sydney’s cultural offer. As a Public Art Curator I have worked on precinct and public arts strategies for significant urban projects across Sydney.

During my six and a half years as a City of Sydney Councillor, and my three years as Deputy Lord Mayor, I had the privilege of taking action on some of the key issues facing our community, and opportunities to make Sydney the most inclusive, sustainable and creative city it can be.

I encouraged the City to extend trading hours and establish new nightlife precincts through the Late Night Trading Development Control Plan, achieving structural planning changes while also securing day-to-day wins for performers, like access to loading zones for roadies.

I used the platform of being Deputy Lord Mayor during the second wave of the pandemic to advocate for sole traders and micro-businesses, who had been left out of NSW government business support grants. I launched a parliamentary petition, gathering 12,000 signatures, calling on the government to lower the threshold for the Small Business Covid-19 Support Grant: which was achieved in the form of the Micro-Business Support Grant in 2021.

I championed new models to combat housing unaffordability with the Alternative Housing Ideas Challenge: and achieved a tangible outcome with the establishment of Abbie House transitional housing with Women’s Community Shelters (WCS) in 2021: 20 studio apartments, available at low rent for a year, provided by SCAPE student housing, to be managed by City West CHP with case management and support from WCS. I have received very moving feedback which demonstrates just how critical this safe, affordable housing has been to support women escaping violence and experiencing some of the most difficult times in their lives.

I secured access to free early childhood education for asylum seekers on temporary visas, and I challenged Sydney to become a fossil fuel ad free zone. I encouraged the City of Sydney to use participatory democracy models to draw in a more diverse range of voices as we shaped the future vision for Sydney, leading to the establishment of the Citizen’s Jury process ahead of Sustainable Sydney 2050

As one of the founding creatives, I worked for nine years to develop Australia’s largest creative industries and entertainment festival. I developed the program structure, key themes, selected talent and collaborated with producers, sponsors, government and others to deliver this major annual event.

TEDxSydney aims to establish a platform for the propagation of great ideas, storytelling and actionable innovation. As part of the curatorial team I uncovered talented artists, entrepreneurs and researchers and helped them develop their stories for presentation on the TEDx stage.

In 2013 and 2014 I established so(hot)right(now) (2SER radio) a weekly, two-hour arts radio show uncovering the best from Sydney’s creative community. I hosted Evenings (ABC Sydney radio), a three-hour nightly radio show every weeknight, broadcast live across NSW, as relief/summer host.

The Arts Minister has oversight of the state’s cultural institutions, public libraries, Arts NSW and Screen NSW. I developed the Pop Up Rocks short-term creative residency program, and advised the Minister in industry engagement, cultural infrastructure and policy in the arts and creative sector.

I directed Australia's leading grants program for young artists, designers, filmmakers, musicians and creatives, connecting creatives with cash, flights and mentorships with outstanding industry figures.

I developed a community of contributors across the region, wrote, researched and commissioned content for a platform to share knowledge about innovative projects, common challenges and emerging opportunities to build more creative, sustainable and inclusive cities in East Asia.

I began my career as an Editor of print magazines including Yen, SummerWinter, Empty, Hotpress and STU focusing on nurturing emerging talent and audiences in music, fashion, design, visual art and social change. I also worked as an online content editor and producer on two key Australian arts and creative sector sites, NOISE (Mixed Industry) and The Program (Australia Council for the Arts).

Glimpses of Utopia is an exploration of innovative global policy and social movements translated into accessible and motivating stories for a broad audience. The projects in Glimpses empower people and communities to build a future we can be excited about: from participatory democracy to power bottom-up decision making, to for-purpose finance drawn from ancient traditions, structures for fairness in land use and collaborative city-making, and much more.

Glimpses of Utopia was shortlisted in the Australian Book Industry Awards in 2021, one of the nation’s most prestigious literary prizes. I was invited to discuss the ideas in Glimpses at major Australian events including: Antidote at the Sydney Opera House, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney writers' festivals, and in a TEDxSydney talk. I was also delighted to see my Adelaide Writers' Festival talk podcasted on a stand-alone episode of ABC Radio National's Big Ideas program.

Glimpses has been re-released in a new edition in May 2023, with a new foreword and updated content.

Sydney’s deputy mayor Jess Scully writes of real-world alternatives to the political status quo, in which informed, empowered citizens get a seat at the table.

Future generations will look back on the way that Australia has treated refugees and people seeking asylum, particularly through this moment of crisis, and they will judge the compassion of our response. It’s not too late for the government to turn this around and show that people in need of safety are welcome here, and that we as individuals, communities, neighbourhoods, schools, workplaces and more will be here to support them, every step of the way.

What will Sydney be like the morning after the lockouts are lifted? The Premier’s announcement on Thursday that lockout restrictions will be repealed everywhere but Kings Cross from January 14 was welcome and long overdue. Nearly six years of lockouts cost our economy $16 billion a year in lost revenue and tarnished our reputation as a fun, global city.

Sydney won’t magically regain all its nightlife mojo at midnight on January 14. It will take a long time for our night-time economy to recover. But the end of the lockouts is a rare opportunity to shape what our city offers after dark to work for everyone.

With a burst of optimism and positivity, the Deputy Lord Mayor of Sydney and Ideas Curator, Jess Scully shares what she calls the "transformative potential of people-powered politics". Drawing on examples from around the world, Scully demonstrates why politics as usual is no longer viable and that it is time for a more nuanced and participatory approach to democracy. She argues that "the system that got us into this mess, can't be relied upon to get us out of it".

Jess Scully is the embodiment of hope. Every time we connect, the conversation expands immediately into a bold, audacious vision of what more we could all be doing. Over wines and whiskey sours, our conversations have punctuated various jobs over various years and the joyful urgency she brings deepens every time. Jess is infectious. As we chat over our Covid-inflicted Zoom call, she sits in the courtyard of her home in Sydney, and her partner Pat pops into the screen to say hi with Jess’ daughter Elinor for a quick cuddle.

Time Out is profiling the incredible people who are shaping the future of Sydney in this Future Shaper series.

If deputy lord mayor of Sydney Jess Scully could create her perfect version of our city, it would contain Copenhagen's cycling culture and Bangkok's street food. There would be a touch of Singapore's multicultural mix and good public transport like in New York. Above all it would have Berlin's nightlife with "no shortage of places to go dance"; important for a girl who was raised in a South American disco.

Since becoming the deputy lord mayor of Sydney, Jess Scully has continued her fight for social equality. As she pushes for affordable housing and investment in the ‘caring economy’, she remains hopeful of instituting long-lasting change. “I think there’s an opportunity for us right now to make sure that participatory democracy and the care economy and affordable housing are some of the things that become practical, real projects.”