BCBusiness
Jane Talbot, president and CEO of Downtown Van, is a winner in the Change Maker category of the 2025 Women of the Year Awards
When Jane Talbot first moved to Canada from the United States, she was a full-time volunteer at the YMCA’s downtown Vancouver location while waiting for her work permit to be approved. She was drawn to companies that make a purpose-driven impact (“I cannot work for an organization that I don’t feel passion about,” she says), and she quickly moved through the ranks at several prominent organizations—first the BC Persons with AIDS Society (now Positive Living BC), then the Heart and Stroke Foundation and finally the BC SPCA. “I learned so much,” Talbot says. “And chief among those lessons is the fact that you’ve got to take good care of yourself, and there is a price tag on passion.”
Experiencing burnout for the first time put everything into perspective for Talbot, who saw that passion for a cause wasn’t enough to balance gruelling 70-plus hour work weeks. When a temporary one-year position opened at Downtown Van (the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, which represents more than 8,000 businesses in the city’s 90-block downtown core), she jumped. “I thought I could reacquaint myself with my city and I could assist this organization for a year and then move on to something else. That was seven years ago, and here I am,” she says.
In those seven years, Talbot moved from director of operations to vice-president to COO when, in 2023—and in the middle of a global pandemic—she was promoted to her current role as president and CEO. “Some people would say I came in at a horrible time. But I think I came in at a great time; stakeholders were working so collaboratively together,” she explains. “The barriers that we all experience collectively in the city during the time seemed to be reduced because there was such an urgent need to support our city [in pandemic recovery].”
That support of Downtown Vancouver has only continued to grow under Talbot’s leadership. In September 2024, the BIA launched its Better Safe Than Sorry campaign that, in advance of the provincial election, encouraged all candidates to prioritize safety—a move that was significant because shining a spotlight on safety means acknowledging it.
Talbot has also spearheaded campaigns that encourage the beautification and celebration of Downtown Vancouver. That includes a fund that gave $2,000 to businesses that wanted to activate their storefront for the Taylor Swift concert series (for anything from themed cocktails to photo-ready backdrops). Also, the revamped two-day Granville Block Party, which had over 40,000 people attend and ignited a new perspective for the street that had developed a less-than-stellar reputation during the pandemic. The economic impact was massive, bringing in around $900,000 for nearby businesses.
Discover our full list of 21 BCBusiness 2025 Women of the Year award winners here.