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Priya Mulgaonkar is an organizer, policy strategist and researcher working at the intersection of environmental justice and community-led planning. She co-teaches Sustainable Communities for Pratt’s Sustainable Environmental Systems (SES) program. She currently works as Assistant Director of Policy & Research at the Green New Deal Network (GNDN), where she leads federal and state-level policy research, develops policy frameworks rooted in justice and equity, and drives alignment across a diverse coalition of grassroots organizations, labor groups, and climate advocates.

Priya brings deep expertise in participatory planning and community capacity building for equitable climate adaptation. She previously worked at the NYC Environmental Justice Alliance and Hester Street, where she partnered with frontline communities to advance local climate resilience plans, statewide climate goals, and equitable policies around energy, waste and land use.

She holds a Master of Urban Planning from Hunter College and a B.A. in Environmental Studies and Sociology from NYU. Her work has been recognized by GreenBiz’s “30 Under 30” and the Emerging Leader in Environmental Health & Justice Award from Clean and Healthy NY. She also served 8 years on the board of BK ROT, a youth-powered food waste hauling and composting cooperative in Brooklyn.

Priya is passionate about building collective power to advance urban sustainability, shifting public resources toward community resilience, and challenging extractive systems in pursuit of a just future.

Master of Urban Planning | Hunter College | New York, NY | MAY 2021
B.A. Environmental Studies & Sociology | New York University | New York, NY | MAY 2015

Publications & Reports

• – Green New Deal Network | 2025. Research team lead, design and layout. 
• – Green New Deal Network | 2024. Research team lead, design and layout. 
• – Green New Deal Network | 2024. Research team lead, design and layout. 
• – Green New Deal Network | February 2023. Researcher and Co-Author.
• – Hester Street | February 2022. Team lead and co-author. 
• – Forefront Fellowship, Urban Design Forum | February 2021. Co-author. 
• – NYC Climate Justice Agenda | April 2020. Co-author, editing, & design layout. 
• – Just Nature NYC Partnership |  March 2020. Co-author, spatial analysis, editing.
• – Demos | April 2019 by Lew Daly, Demos, & Priya Mulgaonkar, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance. Co-author, research & spatial analysis. 
• – NYC Climate Justice Agenda | NYC Environmental Justice Alliance | April 2018. Co-author, spatial analysis, editing & layout design
• – Transform Don’t Trash NYC | September 2016. Lead author.
• – Environmental Law in New York | January 2019 by Eddie Bautista, Annel Hernandez, Priya Mulgaonkar, & Kartik Amarnath
• – Strategies for Health Justice: Lessons from the Field | Poverty & Race Research Action Council | November 2018 by Melissa Iachan, New York Lawyers for the Public interest (NYLPI) & Priya Mulgaonkar, NYC Environmental Justice Alliance
  

Select Press Features & Media

• April 21, 2020. Grist.
• February 2nd, 2020. WBAI.
• .  December 20th, 2019. Gotham Gazette. 
• . January 23rd, 2020. New York Daily News.
• June 21st, 2019. NPR. 
• June 18th, 2019. Vice News.
  

Speaking Engagements

• – May 29th, 2020
• – April 23, 2019 – Artists for a Green New Deal: Explaining Policy, Exploring Poetic, US Department of Arts & Culture