Jamie Christensen: Curiosity, Community, and Dad Jokes

If you scroll LinkedIn long enough, chances are you’ll see a post from Jamie Christensen — often with a dose of humor, a dash of Homer Simpson, and a whole lot of heart. But behind the viral dad jokes and clever GIS memes is someone with a serious mission: helping communities make better decisions through the power of “where.”

Jamie didn’t set out to become a GIS evangelist. In fact, his journey started with a simple question: How do we help people understand each other better? For him, the answer came through maps—not just as tools, but as empathy engines.

“What I like to tell folks,” he said, “is I'm just curious about the world and the ‘where’ of the world. GIS helps us explore new perspectives and connect with others.”

It’s that idea—GIS as a force for empathy—that fuels his work today.

Jamie runs two small businesses rooted in service. One helps nonprofits use GIS to make smarter land decisions. “We bring in facilitators, lay out maps on tables, and use pebbles to mark spots where people care about things like stormwater or trails,” he explained. “That community feedback becomes a heat map—and suddenly, people see things they never saw before.”

Like the time a land trust in North Carolina realized they’d overlooked a quarry the public cherished. “The data didn’t tell them that. The people did,” Jamie said. “And GIS helped make that visible.”

His second business focuses on local governments. But instead of obsessing over beautiful maps, Jamie’s team designs tools that give citizens what they actually need.

“Most people just want answers,” he said. “They want to know their school district or trash day, not navigate layers of data. So we lead with empathy. We ask: what would I want to know if I lived here?”

That belief—that good GIS is about listening first—isn’t just a business principle. It’s deeply personal. “I’m a people pleaser at heart,” Jamie admitted. “But over time, I’ve tried to channel that into outcomes that help people feel heard, like they’re part of the process. Whether it's a local resident or a city planner, they should walk away feeling like they matter.”

Despite decades in the field, Jamie says the future of GIS doesn’t belong to people like him—it belongs to the next generation. “The barriers to building and sharing are gone. If you’ve got a good idea and some curiosity, you can make an impact,” he said. “We don’t need to know all the answers. We just need to start the conversation.”

And if you're nervous about reaching out? Jamie has advice for that, too.

“Message that person you admire. Ask to learn more. The worst that happens is they say no. The best? You build a new connection,” he said. “That’s what this work is all about.”