Sandhya Naidu Janardhan

Sandhya Naidu Janardhan serves in a leadership role at Community Design Agency (CDA), a women-led Mumbai based organization. CDA envisions an inclusive world where every human enjoys access to vibrant, safe, and healthy spaces to live, work, and play. For Sandhya, spatial equity is inextricably linked to dismantling systemic issues including gender, social and health inequity, climate vulnerability, economic inclusion, and identity.

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Most of Sandhya's two decades of professional career has been about cultivating processes that provide marginalized communities with clear agency and voice over where and how they live. Her participatory methodology is rooted in intentional deep listening and empathy, democratizing access to architecture and design. Sandhya’s previous work spans multiple countries, in both the commercial and non-profit sectors, including landscape architecture for a Singapore-based interdisciplinary design firm, and post-earthquake reconstruction in Haiti for a US-based non-profit.  

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A registered architect in India and a graduate of Columbia University, she is a recipient of the 2024-25 Berkeley Rupp Prize, the 2024 Obel Teaching Fellowship Award, and is a TED India Fellow.