Melinda Hanson

Ms. Melinda Hanson is an independent urban planning consultant, currently working with the Asian Development Bank. Over the past decade, she has worked with a number of foundations, NGOs, and research institutes on initiatives to promote urban sustainability and support cities to adapt to climate change. She has consulted for the Rockefeller Foundation and worked as a researcher for Rebuild by Design—an initiative of President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Task Force—among other engagements. From 2008 through 2012, Ms. Hanson served as Portfolio Manger for Sustainable Transport at the ClimateWorks Foundation, where she oversaw $20 million in annual grants to public policy organizations in China, India, Latin America, Europe, and the US. She holds degrees in Environmental Studies and English Literature from the University of California Santa Cruz, as well as a Master of Urban Planning from New York University, where she was the inaugural Rice Urban Studies Fellow.