Empowering People. Creating Community.
Community Engagement + Planning
Planning that Reflects Community Strengths and Expands Opportunity
At JM Goldson, we help communities navigate change with intention and care. Our planning and engagement work doesn’t impose, it listens, guides, and helps shape policies that build on local strengths while inviting new possibilities.
Whether planning for diverse housing options or crafting a long-range plan that honors community stories, we root every project in the lived experience of residents, longtime and new.
We believe inclusive planning isn’t just about place, it’s about people. When local voices lead, plans don’t just reflect the past. They build a future where more people can belong, contribute, and thrive.
Empowering Communities to Thrive with Authenticity, Equity, and Sustainability
At JM Goldson, we believe that meaningful planning starts with people. Since 2006, we've partnered with municipalities, affordable housing developers, and fellow consultants to craft plans and policies that reflect local voices, expand access to opportunity, and promote equitable, lasting solutions.
Our approach blends deep community engagement with data-driven technical expertise, whether guiding comprehensive plans, strategic plans, area plans, community preservation plans, or advancing affordable housing strategies. We collaborate closely with communities and partners to shape local policy that supports housing production, encourages gentle density and transit-oriented development, and broadens housing choices.
In addition, we support other consultants looking to strengthen their community engagement efforts, providing facilitation strategies grounded in transparency, inclusion, and collaboration.
Because at JM Goldson, we know that when communities lead, solutions endure.
Ways We Can Help Your Community
Community Preservation & Investment
Community Engagement & Facilitation
Housing Planning & Implementation
Serving Our Clients Well
We create vibrant, authentic, and equitable communities that are proud of who they are and excited by what they can achieve. With every collaboration, we promise a hopeful vision and a well considered path toward your desirable future.
Featured Project
JM Goldson worked in close collaboration with the Town of Winchester, MA to produce the Winchester Master Plan, which was the recipient of the MA American Planning Association 2020 Comprehensive Planning Award.
“Your work was superior in every regard. You are one of the most competent professionals I’ve had the pleasure of working with and a darn nice person to boot.”
A note from
JENN GOLDSON
Hi, I’m Jenn!
In more than 30 years of planning work, I’ve been part of well over a thousand public meetings, community meetings, and board meetings. I’ve sat on just about every side of the table (and there are more than two!) as a municipal planner, a consultant, and a volunteer.
One early meeting I still think about was in Brookline in the late 1990s. I was a junior planner in my 20s, notebook in hand, watching neighbors debate the future of the St. Aidan’s Church site, and it made a big impression on me.
Meeting after meeting, before and since then, I’ve seen how much people care about the places they live, and how hard (and how worthwhile) it is to work through big decisions together.
I started JM Goldson in 2006, and twenty years and about 160 cities, towns, and organizations later, my team and I still love this work. We listen closely, we ask the questions that need asking (kindly!), and we look for the voices that usually aren’t in the room. Our goal is a plan your community truly owns, one people helped shape and feel good about carrying forward.
If that sounds like what your community needs, I’d love to hear from you.
- Jenn Goldson, AICP, Founder + Managing Director, JM Goldson
