Neha Bhatt
As founding director of the Local Leaders Council of Smart Growth America in Washington, DC, Neha Bhatt specializes in supporting city and county decision makers across the US who stand up for inclusive, livable communities.
She has built a network of hundreds of leaders who are smart growth champions and established an annual Policy Forum for elected officials to exchange effective strategies. The work has produced a portfolio of model policies packaged for leaders on such topics as affordable housing, transit, walkability, sustainability and economic development.
Bhatt is a keen believer in the power of thoughtful urban design to improve quality of life and access to opportunity, particularly in disadvantaged neighborhoods. While serving as policy advisor at the City Council of the District of Columbia, she developed legislative proposals for better bicycle facilities, parking reform, stormwater management and the city’s first participation in World Car Free Day. She has managed campaign planning efforts aimed at increasing public transit funding and evaluated capital transportation spending patterns in the fifty states. Bhatt has delivered workshops for community members, regional leaders and state level cabinet members. As a community organizer with the Sierra Club, she was an advocate for neighborhoods working to put major development decisions in health and environmental contexts.
During her Loeb year, Bhatt will investigate ways to improve cities’ spending approaches on infrastructure and development and explore mechanisms for scaling up distribution of proven policies to an audience of elected decision makers.