Jill Bjers is a storyteller, community builder, and cookie artist (yes, really—the brains and piping bag behind Chunky Cat Cookies). With 20+ years of globe-trotting airline experience under her belt, she’s turned her curiosity about people and places into a career centered on stories, advocacy, and connection.

She founded Brainbloom Labs to explore the intersection of creativity and civic technology, and she’s a founding board member of the Alliance of Civic Technologists. Locally, Jill pours her energy into community work in Charlotte’s Historic West End, where she’s passionate about honoring the past while sparking new possibilities for the future.

Her résumé includes wrangling volunteers for Code for America, building Open Charlotte, and shaping TEDxCharlotte from behind the scenes. She’s also been known to hop on stages around the world to talk about community, technology, and why none of us really knows how to mute ourselves on Zoom.

When she’s not writing plays, essays, or short stories, Jill can be found elbow-deep in royal icing, teaching her cat Spanish, or daydreaming about her next big adventure. Above all, she believes in the magic of storytelling—whether it comes in the form of a keynote, a neighborhood gathering, or a cookie shaped like an otter.