At PRE Collective, we are public-service minded infrastructure and project development experts helping communities make the most of transformational infrastructure opportunities. We have a once-in-a-generation federal funding landscape to define how equitable, community-centered, climate-smart infrastructure can take shape. No one can do it alone. Our goal is to build collective momentum for equitable implementation. Learn more at precollective.org.

I'm proud to serve on the board of the nation's premiere organization for local, state and federal action to advance equity, sustainability and resilience through better community design and policy.

re:focus partners, llc is a design+finance firm dedicated to developing integrated resilience solutions and innovative public-private partnerships for vulnerable communities around the world. The re:focus team works directly with government agencies at all levels to serve as an honest broker of new resilient infrastructure projects and transactions, ensuring that both have sound financial returns and economic, social, and environmental integrity for the communities they serve. re:focus is a federally certified woman and minority-owned small business (100% owned by Shalini Vajjhala). To learn more, visit: www.refocuspartners.com.

The Atlas is an online community for local government officials & staff to browse city case studies, follow trending local government topics and post questions to colleagues.This venture was launched as an independent company co-founded by Elle Hempen, Ellory Monks, and Shalini Vajjhala in June 2016 and acquired in December 2020 by Government Executive Media Group.Check it out here: www.the-atlas.com

Designed and taught two courses in the Energy, Resources, and Environment program— International Environmental Diplomacy (Spring 2013) and Case Studies in Sustainable Development (Spring & Fall 2013, Spring 2014)—and developed an online case series in partnership with the University of Washington Electronic Hallway (30 published cases). For an overview of the Case Studies in Sustainable Development series and summaries of all cases visit: http://hallway.evans.washington.edu/sais-sustainable-development

Appointed to the position of Special Representative in the Office of Administrator Lisa Jackson to lead the US-Brazil Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability (JIUS), a bilateral partnership announced by President Obama and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff in March 2011. The JIUS was charged with catalyzing investment in green and smart infrastructure, technology and services, especially for poor and underserved urban communities, and demonstrating how environmental protection can serve as a driver for economic growth and job creation in building the greener economies and smarter cities of the future.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of International & Tribal Affairs develops and implements a wide variety of technical and policy programs to advance the United States’ global environmental priorities and safeguard the environmental health and safety of people in the U.S. and around the world.Managed ~90 staff and a ~$100 million budget focused on developing and implementing a wide variety of innovative technical and policy programs to advance U.S. interests in cooperation with Tribal and foreign governments. Helped develop and lead multiple interagency initiatives and partnerships to show how environmental protection can serve as a driver for economic growth, including the US-Brazil Joint Initiative on Urban Sustainability, the National Strategy on Electronics Stewardship, and EPA Tribal Ambassadors program.

The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) coordinates Federal environmental efforts and works closely with agencies and other White House offices in the development of environmental policies and initiatives.Coordinated early Obama Administration environmental initiatives, including electric transmission grid policy decisions and the launch of an interagency climate change adaptation task force, with key Federal agencies, including DOE, EPA, HUD, and FEMA.

Research focus on novel applications of mapping and spatial analysis tools and methods to evaluate cross-cutting public policy issues, including siting major energy facilities, implementing environmental justice policies, managing carbon sequestration, facilitating community-based natural resource management, and adapting to climate change. Developed the Adaptation Atlas (patent awarded March 2013).

Member of a World Bank field team working in Lesotho, southern Africa with rural villages to identify gender differences in mobility and access patterns, and evaluate opportunities for participatory planning of transport infrastructure and health service-delivery using hand-drawn mapping and GIS.http://www.gsdi.org/SDIA/docs2008/mar08links/Mobility-Access-Rural-Lesotho.pdf

Designed a series of participatory mapping workshops in Wilkinsburg, PA to integrate local maps with city-planning maps in a sustainable neighborhood development initiative and community gallery exhibit.http://communitypartner.org/http://www.findtherivers.net/

Worked as a project design-team member; developed construction documents and presentations; built physical and CAD models; and coordinated projects with clients, consultants, and community groups.http://www.lk-architects.com/