About me
Soren Simonsen is Executive Director of the Jordan River Commission, a public agency established by an Interlocal Cooperative Agreement in 2010. The Commission is comprised of over 30 local, state and federal government agencies, together with community nonprofit and business partners, working together to improve the Jordan River and its surrounding environment and watershed. Soren is an urban designer, architect, educator and entrepreneur. Over the past three decades, including 25 years of public service as an appointed and elected official, he has worked to create safe, healthy, beautiful, prosperous and resilient cities and natural places in Utah and the West.
Soren earned a Master of Arts in Community Leadership at Westminster University in Salt Lake City, with an emphasis on organizational leadership, public policy and community organizing. His research and thesis focused on sustainable and equitable cities, and natural resource conservation, which has been his life’s work. He previously received a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Texas at Austin, with a minor in urban planning, and an emphasis in environmental design, urban design and community and regional planning.
In his free time, Soren loves to hike, bike, ski and paddle in Utah’s vast outdoors. You can find him regularly riding and paddling the Jordan River Parkway.
