Design Impact - Event Speakers
The Design Impact series brings together an outstanding roster of global leaders to share their work and vision, challenging us as a global community to use design as a tool for actionable, transformative change and healing.
ABHAS JHA
PRACTICE MANAGER, CLIMATE CHANGE AND DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT (SOUTH ASIA REGION), THE WORLD BANK
Abhas Jha works on cities, technology, climate risk and resilience, public policy, and has earlier once served as Adviser to the World Bank Executive Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka. He has authored books, edited/co-edited and contributed chapters to several other publications, and cited by leading publications like the Financial Times and the New York Times, amongst others.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 02.25.21
ARIF HASAN
ARCHITECT AND PLANNER,
BASED IN KARACHI, PAKISTAN
Arif Hasan is an architect, planner, activist, teacher, researcher and the author of a number of books, research papers, and monographs on urban development issues. He is the founder and Chairperson of the Urban Resource Centre, Karachi and a founding member of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, Bangkok. He is the recipient of national and international awards including the Hilal-e-Imtiaz and the UN Year for the Shelterless Memorial Award.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
IROMI PERERA
RESEARCHER AND ACTIVIST,
BASED IN COLOMBO, SRI LANKA
Iromi works on land rights and spatial justice, with a focus on development and dispossession in post-war Sri Lanka. She is the curator of Right To The City Sri Lanka, an initiative that explores the city making process in Colombo from a rights perspective, highlighting narratives that are often hidden or silenced.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
KASHIF MAJEED SALIK
ASSOCIATE RESEARCH FELLOW AT SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT POLICY INSTITUTE, ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
Before joining SDPI, Salik worked with Global Change Impact Studies Center on conducting research and developing plans and strategies for enhancing rural household’s resilience to climate change in Pakistan. He has also worked with International Water Management Institute as an agricultural economist. A PhD student at University of Southampton, UK, Salik received his master’s degree in agricultural Economics from University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 02.25.21
KENICHI YOKOYAMA
DIRECTOR GENERAL OF ASIAN DEVELOPMENTS BANK'S (ADB) SOUTH ASIA DEPARTMENT
BASED IN PHILIPPINES
Mr. Yokoyama oversees the operations of seven sector divisions and six country offices and regional cooperation initiatives in the South Asian region. Prior to joining ADB in 1999, he worked for the Government of Japan (Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, and Embassy of Japan in Dhaka, Bangladesh) for 16 years.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
KAZI KHALEED ASHRAF
ARCHITECT, ARCHITECTURAL HISTORIAN AND CRITIC
BASED IN DHAKA, BANGLADESH
Kazi Khaleed Ashraf currently heads the Bengal Institute for Architecture, Landscapes and Settlements in Dhaka, Bangladesh. He has authored/edited “Locations: An Anthology of Architecture and Urbanism”, “The Hermit’s Hut: Architecture and Asceticism in India”, “Designing Dhaka: A Manifesto for a Better City”, the 2007 “Architectural Design” issue “Made in India,” and other publications.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
MS. LICYPRIYA KANGUJAM
9-YEAR-OLD CLIMATE ACTIVIST & FOUNDER, THE CHILD MOVEMENT
Licypriya is a nine year old climate activist championing the cause to protect, preserve, and nurture our environment by fighting climate change. She is the 2019 World Children Peace Prize Laureate, 2019 Rising Star of Earth Day Network and 2020 Global Child Prodigy Award Winner 2020. She has addressed world leaders in the United Nations Climate Conference 2019 (COP25).
SESSION 2 Keynote Speaker on 02.25.21
NAKSHA SATISH
MASTER OF ARCHITECTURE IN URBAN DESIGN 2022, HARVARD UNIVERSITY, ARCHITECT AND URBAN PRACTITIONER
BASED IN BANGALORE, INDIA
Naksha’s interests and work lie at the intersection of technology, housing, and the design of cities. She engages with the urban through an interdisciplinary lens that shapes processes and methods rather than just built form. After her undergrad at CEPT University, she pursued an urban fellowship program at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, Bangalore.
SESSION 1 Moderator on 02.25.21
NUPUR GURJAR
HARVARD UNIVERSITY, MDE '21, DESIGNER, ARCHITECT
BASED IN CAMBRIDGE, MA
Nupur Gurjar is a systems thinker and strategist deeply invested in design for humanitarian response. She is working on an experiential tool for climate migrants in Bangladesh and hopes to continue advocating for anthropogenic impact on climate vulnerability. As a research consultant, she also works for the International Organization for Migration (UN), Niger and is currently a graduate student at Harvard University.
SESSION 2 Curator & Moderator on 02.25.21
PASANG DOLMA SHERPA
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES' RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (CIPRED),
BASED IN KATHMANDU, NEPAL
Pasang has been working with Indigenous Peoples, Women and Local Communities for the promotion and recognition of the traditional knowledge, cultural values and customary institutions that contributed for natural resource management, climate change resilience and sustainable development for more than a decade both at national and international levels. Currently she represents Asia Indigenous Peoples to the FWG, Chair of Specialist Group on Indigenous Peoples' Customary and Environmental Laws and Human Rights (SPICEH) within the CEESP-IUCN and Visiting Faculty at Kathmandu University in Nepal.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 02.25.21
RAHUL MEHROTRA
CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF URBAN PLANNING AND DESIGN, AND JOHN T. DUNLOP PROFESSOR IN HOUSING AND URBANIZATION, HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF DESIGN, CAMBRIDGE, MA
Rahul Mehrotra is the founder principal of RMA Architects. He divides his time between working in Mumbai and Boston, and teaching at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where he is Professor of Urban Design and Planning and the John T. Dunlop Professor in Housing and Urbanization. His most recent book is titled Working in Mumbai (2020) and is a reflection on his practice evolved through its association with the city of Bombay/Mumbai.
Volume 3 Event Introduction on 02.25.21
RUNA KHAN
FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FRIENDSHIP NGO, BANGLADESH
An Ashoka fellow, Schwab Entrepreneur and a Rolex Award Laureate, Runa Khan works with the most hard-to-reach and unaddressed communities in Bangladesh, serving 6.5 million lives a year through her organization. Working towards Saving Lives, Climate Adaptation, Poverty Alleviation and Empowerment, the organization creates sustainable solutions and brings dignity and hope to each life it touches.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 12.3.20
S KRISHNAN
ADDITIONAL CHIEF SECRETARY, FINANCE; MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE NEW TIRUPUR AREA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED
BASED IN CHENNAI, INDIA
Mr. Krishnan has demonstrated expertise in policy making, public finance, and socio-economic development. He has served as the Senior Advisor in the Office of the Executive Director for India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Bhutan in the International Monetary Fund, representing the Government of India in the G20 Expert Groups on International Financial Architecture and Global Financial Safety Nets.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
SEETHA RAGHUPATHY
CEO SEAGULL STUDIO, ARCHITECT AND URBAN DESIGNER
BASED IN CHENNAI, INDIA
Seetha Raghupathy is an architect and urban designer with more than 13 years of experience in project design and delivery across India, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and USA. She runs her own practice and is also a senior consultant for the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the CITIIS project with the National Institute of Urban Affairs, India.
Panel Curator in SESSION 1 on 02.25.21
SUDIPTA KUMAR BADAPANDA
COUNTRY DIRECTOR, ACTIONAID,
BASED IN KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
Sudipta has over 20 years of experience in the development sector with significant work in conflict and post conflict contexts of Asia and Africa where he has worked with some of the most marginalized people to design projects and programmes on food security, resilience and disaster risk reduction. Sudipta currently leads ActionAid’s programme in Afghanistan with a key focus on Empowerment of Women and Girls, and Food and Nutrition Security through resilient and climate smart Agriculture and Develop Resilience in the Community through Humanitarian and resilience practices.
Panel Speaker in SESSION 2 on 02.25.21