Mason works with universities, communitities, and developers to design innovation districts that drive economic growth through strategic public-private collaboration. He specializes in creating place-based strategies that leverage higher education assets and emerging technologies to catalyze regional transformation. His approach combines deep operational experience in innovation district development with expertise in cross-sector partnerships, enabling clients to navigate complex stakeholder dynamics while building sustainable ecosystems that attract talent, investment, and entrepreneurship.

Mason’s work focuses on designing convergence models that unite diverse institutional partners around shared economic development goals. His experience leading large-scale innovation district operations, including his previous work with Georgia Tech’s Tech Square development, has equipped him with practical insights into how physical infrastructure, programming, and governance structures must align to create thriving knowledge economy hubs. As part of the executive team for the Rowen Foundation, he is orchestrating the creation of a 2,000-acre innovation community in the Atlanta Metro Region connecting research, education, and industry across agriculture, medicine, and environmental science. 

His practice emphasizes comprehensive development management that guides transformative projects from concept through construction and operations. Mason’s leadership of master planning and implementation for Moffitt Cancer Center’s 775-acre SPEROS FL innovation campus demonstrates his ability to balance immediate institutional needs with long-term growth objectives. Through his work with George Mason University’s mixed-use development strategy and campus master planning, he integrates phasing strategies and partnership development to ensure that complex innovation campuses achieve their institutional missions while generating broader economic benefits.

Mason’s commitment to building impactful innovation ecosystems reflects his understanding that successful knowledge economy development must create opportunities across the economy connecting industry needs to a workforce of the future. His previous role as Chief Operating Officer at Research Triangle Park Foundation, where he led the convergence of three R1 universities, two community colleges, and an HBCU, demonstrates his ability to unite diverse educational institutions around shared goals. This experience, combined with his international network and study of global innovation district models, enables him to design strategies that balance institutional missions with market realities and community benefits while adapting successful approaches to unique local contexts.