Brian Ellison

I love problems. Big problems, little problems, puzzles, crosswords, urban disinvestment, disjointed municipal operations, you get the point. I am the founder and CEO of Intersection Compliance, a technology-enabled service that automates municipal licensing, permitting, and compliance processes for commercial property owners and operators across U.S. cities. My work centers on transforming fragmented, complex regulatory systems into a scalable, data-driven infrastructure solution that enables businesses to function more easily in any jurisdiction.
My background is grounded in direct, practitioner-level engagement — particularly in legacy industrial cities such as Detroit. Twelve years ago, I founded Intersection Consulting Group, a Detroit-based advisory practice supporting commercial real estate owners, developers, and operators on zoning, licensing, and municipal approvals-across hundreds of regulatory engagements, spanning all property types, and jurisdictions coast to coast. Before that I spent 5 years on the inside (not jail) as the Business Advocate for the City of Detroit, and as a project manager for the Detroit Economic Growth Corporation. I try to bring creativity and a builder’s perspective, rooted in real-world systems change, to all of my work.
My broader mission is to enable entrepreneurs and property owners to activate space, create jobs, and invest locally by making municipal compliance more navigable and predictable. And I’m always looking to collaborate with civic technologists, urban innovators, and policy leaders working to advance next-generation public infrastructure.