Staff Directory

Ziyi (Lisa) Lin is a master’s student at the Columbia University School of Social Work, where her studies focus on organizational effectiveness, people-centered systems, and social impact. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resource Management and Sociology from Baruch College,  Zicklin School of Business. With cross-cultural experience and internship backgrounds across multiple organizations in both the United States and China, Ziyi brings an interdisciplinary perspective that integrates business, social work, and operational practice.

She works as a program intern at the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Her work includes supporting program coordination and stakeholder engagement across initiatives related to sustainable development, as well as contributing to conferences, outreach efforts, and cross-regional collaboration. She also supports fundraising initiatives, assists with organizing program materials and communications, and works with internal teams to improve documentation and streamline operational processes.

Yatin Jain is a policy practitioner working at the intersection of environmental health, climate resilience, and sustainable cities. At CSD, Yatin is particularly interested in how human-centered design and AI can be integrated into essential public systems to create more equitable outcomes. He currently serves as an Expansion and Strategy Fellow at Noora Health, supporting their strategic scaling efforts into new global health systems. In his capstone, Yatin is working with Climate Resilience for All to design market shade solutions for women from extreme heat.

Previously, Yatin worked at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the Indian States team, where he directly engaged with state governments on policy solutions and partnerships in health systems and energy grid decarbonization. Yatin also worked with the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, co-creating programming with election commissions across South Asia.

Yatin is completing his Master of Public Administration at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from the American University in Washington, D.C.

Yanis Ben Amor is an Assistant Professor of Global Health and Microbiological Sciences  and Executive Director of the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD). Prof. Ben Amor is a former member of the Secretariat of the Lancet COVID-19 Commission. He is a molecular biologist and technical advisor responsible for developing effective infectious diseases control programs and designing and implementing Digital Health and Digital Education tools.

Wanting Xiong is a Social Work Intern at Columbia University’s Center for Sustainable Development. She supports the Center's education team on administrative and research activities.

Srishti is a finance professional with 5 years of experience across public and private markets, driven by a passion for leveraging finance, technology, and innovation to advance sustainable development globally. Her background bridges finance and science, having held roles at investment management firms including Apollo, PIMCO and UBS, while also working in scientific research labs at University College London and Oxford University to deepen her understanding of evidence-based solutions for complex challenges.

In addition to her finance experience, Srishti has also worked with impact-driven start-ups in India and was part of the portfolio management team for a healthcare impact fund. In this role, she worked alongside global organizations to strengthen healthcare systems in growth markets, supported initiatives to track healthcare impact metrics and introduced digital tools for the fast diagnosis of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

Srishti is currently pursuing an M.S. in Sustainability Management at Columbia University and holds an M.A. in Neuroscience and Psychology from the University of Cambridge. At the Center for Sustainable Development, she contributes to the "Delivering Next-Generation e-Public Services with Mobile Technology in Uttar Pradesh" project, exploring how digital solutions can enhance public service delivery in India.

Sonia Ehrlich Sachs, MD, MPH is a pediatrician, an endocrinologist and public health specialist. Since 2005 she has been leading efforts at the Earth Institute, Columbia University, to design and implement low-cost primary health systems in low-income rural Africa and India. Dr. Sachs is also the Director of the One Million CHW Campaign, advocating for professionalized Community Health Workers.

Radhika Iyengar has a Ph.D. in Economics of Education from Teachers College in 2011. Her research interests consist in conducting evaluations of educational programs and international educational development.

Nirupam Bajpai is Senior Advisor, Sustainable Development and Director, South Asia Program at the Center for Sustainable Development, Earth Institute, Columbia University in New York. Since 2002, he has been a full professor according to Columbia University norms. During 2020-22, he served as a Member of the Lancet Covid-19 Commission India Task Force. And from 2002-07, he was a Member of the UN Millennium Project on the Millennium Development Goals, the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease, and hunger.

Lewen Qin is a master’s student at Columbia University with interests in sustainable development and social policy. His work focuses on understanding how global issues can be communicated more clearly through practical project experience.

He works as a research and project assistant at the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, as a fieldwork placement with Columbia University's School of Social Work. He supports the education team's work, including Ages of Globalization project, video content support, transcript editing, and managing content across platforms. He also supports research and presentation content and materials for CSD.

Jeffrey D. Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development. He is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including debt crises, hyperinflations, the transition from central planning to market economies, the control of AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, the escape from extreme poverty, and the battle against human-induced climate change.

Haein Shin is an international education professional working at the intersection of curriculum development, program management, and community resilience. With over 15 years of experience spanning USA, Myanmar, India, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Paraguay and 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, she designs and manages education programs aimed at improving learning outcomes in low-resource settings. Her project portfolio spans national education planning, early grade literacy, employment readiness with digital and financial literacy, life skills, technology integration in teaching, citizen science and environmental education.

Divya is an India-born, Canada raised development practitioner and technologist. Her goal is to promote the use of emerging technology to improve health and economic security for marginalized groups.  She holds an Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of British Columbia, and is now in her first year of pursuing a Masters of Public Administration in Development Practice at Columbia University. 

She has successfully built cutting-edge social impact technology such as forest-fire detecting satellites, surgical robots, and autonomous medical delivery drones to try to tackle these issues. Most recently, she spent 4 years as a robotics software engineer, project manager, and technical lead in Silicon Valley at Zipline, a medical drone delivery company. Divya built algorithms for Zipline that helped scale deliveries from from 40,000 to 1 million and have been instrumental in reducing postpartum hemorrhage by a staggering 51% across Rwanda. She also spent time in Rwanda and Ghana conducting customer experience interviews to propose strategic and technical improvements to the engineering team. 

Divya currently researches at the Center for Development Economics and Policy with Dr. Daniel Bjorkegren, an expert in digital transformation, into the benefits of using a TeacherAI chatbot to improve teachers’ lesson plans in Sierra Leone. At the Center for Sustainable Development, she is exploring how AI and digital technologies can feed into long-term strategies to improve health outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa Region.

Asmaa AbuMezied is an internationally recognized development expert with 13 years of experience in advancing economic justice, labor rights, and women's economic empowerment. She specializes in creating inclusive markets, promoting the care economy, and ensuring women's economic rights in fragile and conflict-affected states.

Asmaa has led impactful international programs with Oxfam International and the ILO, and contributed to private sector initiatives with the IFC. At Oxfam International, Asmaa designed and implemented multi-country economic inclusion programs focused on inclusive agricultural value chains and  care policies advancing gender and economic justice. She is currently leading labor rights and supply chain research across South Africa, Ghana, and Indonesia, focusing on equitable labor markets. At the IFC, she spearheaded Diversity4Palestine, to promote gender equality within Palestinian private sector companies. As a Gaza Visiting Fellow at Al Shabaka Policy Network, her work explored energy poverty and justice through the lens of marginalized communities.

A Fulbright Scholar, HESPAL, Atlas Corps Alumna, and Global Shaper Alumna, Asmaa brings a wealth of international experience and recognition to her work. Asmaa holds an MSc in Management from the London School of Economics (LSE) and is currently pursuing a second master's degree, a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice at Columbia University, with a focus on gender, inequality, and economic policy. At the Center for Sustainable Development, she researches AI and digital technologies for health outcomes in the Middle East and North Africa.

Archana Dhinakar Bala is a development practitioner specializing in improving public service delivery in low-resource settings through evidence-driven, intersectoral approaches. She has worked on global health initiatives with the EquiTech Collective, leading operations and partnerships for deploying electronic health records (EHR) systems for displaced populations along the Thai-Myanmar border. At the National University of Singapore, she conducted policy-oriented research in development economics, studying labor, environmental, and political economy topics.

Archana is a Dean’s Scholar at Columbia University, where she is pursuing a Master of Public Administration in Development Practice. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the National University of Singapore. At the Center for Sustainable Development, she researches and supports the implementation of AI and digital tools to improve health outcomes in Africa.

Anastasia Shakhidzhanova is the Special Assistant to the Director, Jeffrey Sachs, at the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. She holds a BA in Sustainable Development from Columbia University and a BA in Political Humanities, with a minor in International Finance and Trade, from Sciences Po Paris.

At CSD, Anastasia works on international relations initiatives with a focus on peace and global security, climate diplomacy, and economic and technological collaboration between the Greater Bay Area and ASEAN.

Previously, she served as Government, Development, and Outreach Coordinator at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.

Originally from Los Angeles, California, Anastasia is fluent in English, Russian, and French.

Aishwarya is a social impact professional with diverse experience spanning the nonprofit, impact consulting, and research sectors. With a background in sociology and liberal arts, she has contributed to projects focused on gender, education, financial inclusion, and health.

She is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Administration with a focus on Development Practice at SIPA, Columbia University. Aishwarya’s journey in the development sector began with an internship in India, working with an NGO that supported individuals living with HIV. Her passion lies in public health, and she aspires to build a career at the intersection of public health, education, and gender.

A strong advocate for multi-stakeholder projects and systems thinking, Aishwarya is particularly interested in exploring how development finance can drive mental health outcomes in emerging and developing economies.

At CSD, Aishwarya is dedicated to building a task force that fosters partnerships across emerging and developing economies to leverage AI in the fields of education, ethics, and healthcare.

Outside of work, Aishwarya enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading Indian fiction, and listening to podcasts.