Kavya Niranjan

Kavya graduated with her MBA from the Foster School of Business in 2023, where she was also the Executive VP of Operations for the MBA Association. She was one of START's Global Innovation Fellows for the 2022 - 2023 academic year.

Prior to Foster, she spent two years as a project manager for an engineering consulting firm in the Bay Area, and has experience providing GIS services for both utilities and renewable energy sectors. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and is passionate about addressing the complex sustainability challenges that face the business community today.

Kavya worked on seven projects during her time with START, acting as the Project Manager for four of them. Below are highlights from two of the projects Kavya worked on:

• Advancing Equity and UHNW Philanthropy: The START team conducted key informant interviews and literature review in order to recommend definitions for three core types of equity giving: racial, gender, and SDG-aligned; the team also presented adaptations of these definitions for the India and China geographies, as well as an assessment of where in the philanthropic lifecycle the proposed definitions should be used and measured against.
• National Climate Finance Plans: The START team conducted a review of key documents and held key informant interviews to gain a clearer picture of existing national climate finance plans and their key features, strengths, and weaknesses.

Reflecting on her time with START, Kavya said, "I stumbled across the START GIF opportunity somewhat unexpectedly but am so glad I made the decision to join over the summer. Beyond working on impactful projects that I felt personally committed to, I was able to fine-tune my consulting and project management skills, engage with inspiring clients who were excited about our work, collaborate with intelligent and hard-working teammates from various disciplines, and experience excellent mentorship from the faculty and leadership. START has become my second home outside of the business school, and I’m certain that my year with the Center has set me up for even more exciting opportunities down the road."

Currently, Kavya is a Markets & Transmission Policy Manager at Renewable Northwest.