Dr. Anjali Mahendra is Director of Global Research at WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, where she leads a worldwide team of over 500 staff in delivering robust, policy-relevant, interdisciplinary research that bridges evidence and implementation across urban systems. 

With more than 20 years of experience, Anjali is an executive leader and strategic thinker focused on advancing sustainable, inclusive cities. Her work centers on how rapidly growing cities can expand access to opportunities and essential services through equitable, climate-responsive land use, housing, transportation, infrastructure and economic policies. She is committed to ensuring that evidence translates into strategies that governments, businesses and international institutions can implement at scale. 

Anjali led the multi-year World Resources Report: Towards a More Equal City, a flagship WRI initiative produced with over 30 global experts, culminating in the widely cited synthesis report Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities. Building on this, she established REHOUSE (Resilient, Equitable Housing, Opportunities and Urban Services), a global program and partnership advancing practical solutions to improve living conditions, resilience and economic opportunity in informal urban settlements. 

A recognized expert in transportation and urban policy, Anjali has authored numerous publications on urban mobility, accessibility, land management, health impacts, economic development and climate action. Her publications appear in Nature Urban Sustainability, Environmental Research Letters, and Transportation Research Part A, alongside influential WRI reports including, Seven Transformations for More Equitable and Sustainable Cities and Unlocking the Potential for Transformative Climate Adaptation in Cities. Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, BBC, Reuters, Wired, Devex, Quartz and international media.

Beyond WRI, Anjali contributes to shaping global innovation and leadership through influential advisory roles. She serves as a Senior Fellow at the MIT Mobility Initiative, an Expert Advisor to The Earthshot Prize, and a member of the MIT Solve Climate Challenge Leadership Group. From 2022 to 2025, Anjali was an appointed Expert Member of the Congressionally mandated National Academies Climate Security Roundtable (CSRT) — the first effort to bring federal intelligence and science agencies together to address climate change as a national security issue. She chaired the CSRT’s workshop on climate security in South Asia and co-chaired its workshop on urbanization.

Earlier in her career, she built and led a multidisciplinary research team at WRI India (then EMBARQ India), integrating public health, climate, and economic analysis into urban transport and planning practice. Prior to WRI, she was a senior consultant at ICF International, leading projects for U.S. federal agencies and international organizations on transportation policy, air quality and climate change. She has also worked with the World Bank, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and research institutions across Latin America, Europe and Asia. 

Anjali holds a Ph.D. in Urban and Regional Planning, an M.S. in Transportation, and a Master's in City Planning, all from MIT, and a Bachelor's in Architecture from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi. Outside work, she enjoys tennis, vegetable gardening and cooking global cuisines. She lives in Cary, North Carolina with her husband and two sons.