Julia Thayne
Julia believes cities should be places where everyone thrives.
An economist and urban designer, Julia builds technologies, writes policies, and creates designs to drive sustainable outcomes in cities. Her work over the past 15+ years has impacted more than 35 cities worldwide, and has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, L.A. Times, CNN, Fast Company, TechCrunch, Bloomberg CityLab, Vox, Governing Magazine, and Quartz.
Currently, Julia is a research fellow at Harvard University, where she researches the environmental, social, and design impacts of AI data centers. She is also Founding Partner of the advisory firm Twoº & Rising, partnering with start-ups, governments, investors, and non-profits to scale solutions in cities that keep global warming below 2 degrees by 2030.
Previously, Julia served as a senior principal at the climate non-profit Rocky Mountain Institute, as an executive officer at the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, and as a sustainability product manager at the global tech and infrastructure company Siemens. In 2025-2026, she was named a Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, an honor awarded to just 10 people globally each year.
Career accomplishments include raising $300M to convert dirty drayage trucks to clean vehicles at the nation’s busiest port; launching one of the nation’s first public-private partnerships on transportation technology; distributing $150M in financial assistance to businesses and NGOs during the COVID-19 pandemic; feeding 20,000 homebound seniors; and opening streets and sidewalks to outdoor dining, walking, and cycling. Julia has also led teams of up to 100 experts and managed multi-million dollar budgets to accelerate research, infrastructure, policy, and partnerships that impact sustainability in cities.
Julia proudly hails from Atlanta and Los Angeles, and lives in Boston, MA.