Jay Steffen is the Assistant Planning Director for the City of Grand Rapids Michigan. He is responsible for long term planning and community engagement. He is currently working on the Grand River corridor plan; a coordinated planning effort with Grand Rapids Whitewater to restore the rapids to the Grand River and provide a vision for adjacent future public and private investment on land. The project is related to the Downtown Plan, being conducted by Downtown Grand Rapids, Inc. Jay supervises the recently created Community Engagement Division which provides the outreach leadership to various City Departments for implementation of streets, bike facilities, parks and open spaces.

Previously Jay was project manager for the implementation of Green Grand Rapids. This comprehensive Master Plan update included objectives to achieve quality of life outcomes for parks and greenspaces, urban tree canopy, stormwater, local food, the Grand River, and bike facilities. The plan received the Michigan APA Daniel Burnham Award for a Comprehensive Plan and Outstanding Grass Roots Initiative award.