Shweta is a Project Manager at AHI, where she leads and supports research and advisory work on housing market systems, program and policy design, innovative housing finance instruments, and strategic public-private partnership frameworks. Shweta brings over eight years of experience in the housing and urban development sector, working towards a goal of equitable and dignified housing and urban space for underserved communities in emerging markets.
At AHI, Shweta has worked on and led several projects in Trinidad and Tobago, Vanuatu, Nigeria, Bolivia, Kyrgyzstan, Kenya, and the USA. She has developed expertise in housing value chain and ecosystem assessments, housing policies of small island developing states, housing finance and funding strategies, incremental construction, disaster-reconstruction and climate resilience. She is currently managing AHI’s Strategic Growth Advisory service, which supports mission-driven entities across the world scale their impact in affordable housing delivery. She is AHI’s in-house expert in green construction and climate resilience, and is an IFC Edge Expert.
Trained as both an architect and urban planner, she has extensive experience in post-disaster housing recovery and climate resilience. Her work includes supporting large-scale housing reconstruction programs in India and Nepal, contributing to the development of National Guidelines for Temporary Shelters for the National Disaster Management Authority, and leading field-based technical training for masons in disaster-affected areas. Shweta’s interests lie at the intersection of informality, housing governance, and urban resilience, shaped by her research into socio-economic dynamics and community-led processes within Mumbai’s informal settlements. As co-founder of Lokal Habitat Labs, she has designed and implemented a technical assistance program for rural homeowners in partnership with a major housing finance institution, with an emphasis on improving climate resilience, spatial quality, and construction practices in self-constructed homes.
Shweta graduated as an architect from School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi, and completed her Master of Urban and Regional Planning at University of California, Los Angeles, with a certificate in Global Public Affairs. Her capstone research focused on policy strategies to support affordable housing and density in exclusionary neighborhoods in Los Angeles, which also informed her work on the development of Anti-Displacement Strategies for Los Angeles County.
She speaks English, Hindi, and Tamil, and is based in Boston. Outside of work, Shweta enjoys marathon running, badminton, and painting in watercolor.
