“Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood.” Daniel Burnham, World’s Columbian Exposition, Chicago 1893
A Chicago heart beating at a New York pace. DREAMer, Optimist, and Urban Enthusiast. All in on public space, public transit, public libraries, and the public at large.
My passion for urban development is deeply rooted in my lived experience.
Growing up in Chicago, I experienced the physical manifestation of Daniel Burnham’s wise words of wisdom everywhere - the undulating L tracks snaking past my home, the billowing stainless steel of Millennium Park, the Beaux-Arts civic institutions lining Michigan Avenue, and the art deco buildings of the 1920s peeking through the soaring glass skyscrapers of today.
Chicago’s relentlessly aspirational spirit is what drew my parents to uproot our family from Mumbai, India and shuffle us to the Windy City when I was a young child. Amidst the glitz and glamour, we went from one blighted neighborhood to the next, from one under-the-table job to another less-than minimum wage promise of a better life. We were a working class family in the shadows of American society; this is when I understood first-hand the complicated ways that inadequate housing, limited transportation options, and environmental risks created structural barriers to upward mobility in some of the world’s wealthiest cities.
The first in my family to go to college, I’ve made it my mission to tackle these inequities head on. I attended Harvard University on a full scholarship and received a BA in Government, Economics, and Visual & Environmental Studies. Whether investing in cutting-edge tools to achieve carbon neutrality in NYC, financing the largest public transit agency in the US, delivering life-saving medicines via drone in Africa, or creating the first open-source database of urban infrastructure in Asia, I am keen to leverage technology to better align the public sector with the needs of the people it serves.
My career spans the public and private sectors, and I’ve collaborated with governments across the globe to design, finance, and implement multi-billion dollar investments in climate-smart infrastructure, affordable housing, and economic development. Having worked at Goldman Sachs, The World Bank, the New York City Mayor's Office, and Zipline, I’m skilled at building relationships with diverse stakeholders, structuring complex financial transactions, operating large-scale projects, and leading public-private partnerships. I am now the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Streetlife Ventures, where I invest in startups at the intersection of cities and climate. We back entrepreneurs building the systems that will make urban life more sustainable, equitable, and resilient.
I’m a strong believer in paying it forward and love being active in my community. I co-founded the Climate Tech Cities community, serve on the board of Scale for Climate Tech, and the selection committees of Activate, The Clean Fight, and Venture for Climate Tech. I'm also passionate about closing the gender gap and serve on the board of Women.NYC, volunteer with the Girl Scouts, and was honored with the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
Outside of work, you’ll find me Citibiking, museum hopping, watching reruns of the West Wing, and getting lost in new cities and new conversations - 70 countries, thousands of people, and still counting on both fronts!
