Every year, Esri Community recognizes exceptional individuals who elevate our collective knowledge through their willingness to share, collaborate, and inspire. The Esri Community MVP Program honors those who go above and beyond - individuals who don't just solve problems, but help others discover solutions, foster innovation, and strengthen the bonds that make our community thrive.
This year, we're proud to introduce 9 outstanding professionals joining the MVP ranks. Their stories span continents and industries, bringing perspectives from the remote islands of the South Pacific to bustling transportation agencies across North America. Whether they're enhancing geospatial platforms in New Zealand, protecting coral reef ecosystems in New Caledonia, or compiling years of data into City of Kerrville's first enterprise GIS, these MVPs represent the incredible breadth of GIS solving real-world challenges.
Learn about their paths to becoming MVPs in their own words, and be sure to leave a warm message of appreciation in the comments - particularly if they've helped solve a challenge or answered a question for you!
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— Alphabetical by last name —
Kia Ora!
I am very fortunate to call New Zealand my home.
I have spent the last decade jumping around various GIS and Leadership roles and these days I work at Network Waitaki as the Network Information Manager. We are an Electric Distribution Utility. Part of my role is looking after the geospatial platforms and enhancing that capability. Naturally I spend a lot of time using the Utility Network to solve business problems.
In my spare time- you can find me at the local cinemas watching movies. You can also find me adventuring with Maple (our 3 year old Border Collie) - swimming, hiking or playing in the snow. Our lives revolve around her. I am also learning how to fly, a hobby that has given a newfound respect for checklists.
I am thankful to the Esri Community for everything. I have learned so much from the members here which I would not have been able to do otherwise. Extremely grateful to be part of this community and I look forward to giving back.
Katie is an Applications Developer for Timmons Group who has rejoined the MVP program thanks to her strong re-engagement on Esri Community, where she's published over 950 posts across 9 years of activity.
I have a BS degree in Cartography and Computer Science from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and a MA in Regional Planning from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. I have worked in the Climate Change arena looking at both the physical and socio-economic impacts of Sea Level Rise on coastal areas of the United States. More recently I have conducted studies using deep learning to identify physical features such as sand dunes in Kuwait. I currently am the GIS Software Coordinator for the Washington State Department of Transportation in Olympia, Washington.
Greetings from the heart of the South Pacific! I am the co-founder and manager of MAGIS, a specialized GIS firm based in Nouméa, New Caledonia. As an Esri Gold Partner and the official reseller for the French Pacific, I lead a dedicated team of experts serving island territories from New Caledonia to French Polynesia.
My professional journey is driven by the challenge of modernizing critical infrastructures in isolated environments. I have developed a deep expertise in ArcGIS Utility Network, helping major water and electricity utilities transition to these advanced models to secure their operations. Beyond land-based networks, we are passionate about maritime domain awareness. We’ve developed custom solutions for EEZ monitoring, integrating real-time AIS, satellite imagery, and multi-source data to protect our fragile coral reef ecosystems.
Being named an MVP is a great honor. For me, the Esri Community is a vital space for sharing knowledge that transcends borders. I’m particularly interested in how GIS can build resilience for island nations facing environmental and logistical challenges. I look forward to connecting with you all, sharing our Pacific perspectives, and continuing to learn from this incredible global network of innovators!
I discovered Geography and GIS after falling in love with environmental science in college. This field allows me to combine my passion for understanding the natural world and human challenges with my desire to create tools that help others work smarter and make more confident and informed decisions. My newest challenges as an Assistant Director of my organization's IT department involve much more project- and people- management, in addition to Enterprise GIS Administration, which I've carried over from my previous role as a GIS Administrator.
I enjoy engaging with the GIS community to keep up with new tools, trends, and issues, and to share whatever knowledge I can from my own experiences and challenges.
I decided to get a geography degree after taking one class with a fantastic professor (shout-out to Mike DeVivo at Grand Rapids Community College). As someone who mostly only wanted to make art, I'm grateful to have stumbled my way to a more stable career.
Currently, I'm a GIS Analyst in the environmental health area of a (U.S.) state health department. My day-to-day work mostly involves building and supporting various internal web apps.
GIS is still a fairly novel concept to most of the non-GIS people I work with. Tools like Experience Builder, Instant Apps, and Dashboards have allowed the small team I work in to make GIS data much more accessible and interactive than we could offer otherwise.
Outside of work, I love cooking/baking, tending to my chaotic native plant garden, listening to all kinds of music, and occasionally indulging my creative side.
I have been using GIS products for about 20 years. Throughout my career I have explored a wide range of ESRI tools and capabilities. My work has spanned multiple areas of GIS, including spatial analysis and modeling, data visualization to effectively communicate geographic information and Python for automating repeated analyses and optimizing workflows. A recurring theme in my work has been improving data collection processes, one of my first projects being using ArcPad to revamp an invasive species survey. Recently, I have found myself using Survey123 frequently, hence my draw to that community.
Being largely self-taught, the Esri Community forums have been invaluable to my growth, and I look forward to continuing to learn, share, and contribute to this community.
My GIS journey started in 2012 at Portland State University where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography and a Graduate Certificate in GIS. I have worked for local governments in New Mexico for the City of Clovis and in Oregon for the City of Woodburn and the City of Hillsboro in various roles divided between IT and Public Works. My prior roles included GIS Technician, GIS Specialist, and GIS Analyst. Currently, I am a GIS Administrator/Developer for the City of Grand Junction, Colorado. My experience ranges broadly across ArcGIS Enterprise from web mapping applications, Utility Network, Data Management, etc. I have been fortunate enough to have employers, colleagues, and Esri Community/Staff support over the years to help foster my growth. In 2014 (City of Clovis, NM) and 2023 (Washington County, OR), I was fortunate enough to be part of a team that received the Esri SAG Award.
Outside of GIS, I enjoy backpacking, hiking, photography and traveling around the western United States.
I have been working in some capacity with GIS for 20 years now. I started my journey with GIS at Texas A&M University getting a bachelor's degree in Spatial Sciences while working part-time doing GIS for the Texas A&M Forest Service. After graduating, I worked full-time for the Texas A&M Forest Service as a GIS Specialist. During that time, I got to work on the Texas Wildfire Risk Assessment Program, created a script to validate and clean up incoming locations from volunteer fire department fire reports, and helped create new map books for wildfire crews to use on fire assignments.
I am currently the GIS Coordinator for the City of Kerrville, TX. Some of the things I have done while at the City of Kerrville are setup their first enterprise GIS bringing years of siloed data together, deployed and maintain ArcGIS Enterprise on-premises, integrated GIS with other systems, found ways to automate tasks using Python, ArcGIS Arcade and Attribute Rules, research land records, and manage utility data.
