Dec 2016 – Mar 2020 · 3 yrs 3 mos · Ahmedabad

• Mahila Housing Trust (MHT) is a not-for-profit organisation based in Ahmedabad that organises and empowers poor women in slum communities to access improved habitat services. MHT works in the areas of water and sanitation, housing and land rights, climate change resilience, and promoting participatory planning and governance.
• Key areas of work:
• Frame advocacy messages around habitat issues of poor communities (especially women) living in informal settlements targeting national and international policy forums, government organisations, and funders.
• Work closely with the senior leadership at MHT and support the development of strategy documents including annual reports, strategic plans, presentations to the board, and corporate presentations.
• Lead substantive research on specific urban sector issues including spatial planning and service delivery processes, slum improvement, and approaches to affordable housing. Develop ways to clearly and effectively communicate urban planning and management process to poor women to enable their participation in community and city level decision making.

Sep 2015 – Jan 2016 · 4 mos · Ahmedabad Area, India

Mar 2015 – Mar 2019 · 4 yrs

• Through her work, Vani focuses on clearly and effectively communicating complex planning ideas, and making them understandable and appealing to any audience, thus furthering deliberation, dialogue, and action on urban issues. She offers technical and communication support to diverse groups including government agencies, institutions, non profits, and community groups. Recent associations include CEPT Research and Development Foundation, Jamnagar Municipal Corporation, Mahila Housing Trust (MHT), and NYU Stern Urbanization Project.
• Key areas of work:
• Communication design and data storytelling
• Strategic planning and fundraising
• Stakeholder engagement and outreach strategies
• Facilitating meetings and spearheading collaborative processes
• Framing advocacy
• Urban research and policy analysis
• Competitions and award submissions
• Designing and conducting trainings

Jan 2015 – Dec 2023 · 8 yrs 11 mos

• As a key member of the core teaching team, I played an integral role in designing "Understanding the City," the foundational studio course for graduate programs within the Faculty of Planning.
• Taught studios and elective courses in urban design, land planning, governance, and communication.

Jul 2014 – Nov 2014 · 4 mos

• Seminar Course on Public Engagement
• The course introduces students to the concept and complexity of participatory decision making, examines the enabling framework for participation in India, and focuses on developing key communication and participation skills required for effectively engaging public sector stakeholders and citizens.

Sep 2012 – Jan 2015 · 2 yrs 4 mos · Ahmedabad

• UMC is a not-for-profit organisation based in Ahmedabad that works towards professionalizing urban management with a key focus on strengthening the capacities of urban local governments. Key sectors of work include water & sanitation, municipal service delivery and urban development.
• Vani worked across sectors at UMC and contributed in the areas of research and policy analysis, institutional analysis, training & capacity building, technical writing and publications.
• Select work:
• Conceptualising and developing a map-book illustrating the status of water and sanitation across cities of Gujarat.
• Designing training modules and conducting workshops for city and state officials in Gujarat on slum improvement and affordable housing.
• Conducting training needs assessment in 10 cities in Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat to review their institutional capacities of local governments to implement sustainable urban transport programs.
• Assessing accessibility of urban poor to health infrastructure and basic services. Worked on preparing urban health plans for four cities in India under the National Urban Health Mission (NUHM).
• Developing communication material including briefing papers, reports, presentations, and publications for the Performance Assessment System(PAS) program for water & sanitation supported by Gates Foundation.

Oct 2010 – Sep 2012 · 1 yr 11 mos · Ahmedabad Area, India

• The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy is a non profit organization that works with cities worldwide to bring about transport and policy solutions that cut greenhouse gas emissions, reduce poverty, and improve the quality of urban life.
• Vani worked in the areas of sustainable development policy, land use-transportation integration and improved accessibility to mass transit in urban India.

May 2010 – Aug 2010 · 3 mos

• Worked as part of the planning team to prepare master plan documents for Bandar Seri Begawan-the capital city of Brunei.

May 2009 – Jan 2010 · 8 mos

• Co-chaired the regional calibration process for LEED ND. Led seven states in Southeast US to come up with regional priority points to be included in the rating system.

Jan 2006 – Feb 2010 · 4 yrs 1 mo

• Led design, production and delivery of urban design and planning projects. As an associate of the firm, Vani also worked with the business development team in the design and production of proposals, marketing material and collateral. Select projects include:
• Fairburn Historic Downtown Master Plan, Atlanta
• Mixed Use/Mixed Income Community Master Plan, Montgomery, Alabama
• Atlanta University Center area master plan
• Riverdale Town Center Master Plan, Riverdale, Georgia
• Blueprint Cumberland: Transit Oriented Development strategy for the Cumberland District in Atlanta region

Aug 2005 – Dec 2005 · 4 mos

• Database Management and Spatial Analysis.
• Training for City of Atlanta staff in Interactive webGIS platforms.
• Collaborative mapping projects with neighboring jurisdictions and local groups.

May 2005 – Aug 2005 · 3 mos

Oct 2004 – May 2005 · 7 mos