Aparna Shrivastava is the Deputy Chief Climate Officer at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). She is a climate adaptation and international development specialist with a decade of experience including sustainable development and humanitarian work across East Africa, Central America, and South & Southeast Asia. This experience has given her a foundational understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by communities on the frontlines of climate change. Most recently, Ms. Shrivastava worked at the intersection of climate change and finance to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy.
Prior to joining DFC, Ms. Shrivastava worked as the Climate Finance Lead at Mercy Corps, where she oversaw a wide range of efforts including adaptation finance research and development, private sector engagement, and high-level representation at COP24 and COP25. Along with serving on a technical expert group of UN Climate Change, she was the strategic director of a renewable energy investment group, Fettl, serving emerging markets.
A daughter of first-generation Indian immigrants, Ms. Shrivastava committed herself to understanding and deconstructing systemic injustice with a long-term vision to bridge gaps between resource-holders and the realities of those most vulnerable. Ms. Shrivastava began her career working on a wide range of sustainable development projects internationally. Alongside designing public health campaigns and gender empowerment advocacy work, her experience has ranged from the technical design of water and sanitation systems in post-conflict northern Uganda to livelihoods programs that made village women’s groups in rural India economically self-sufficient. In Kenya, Ms. Shrivastava established the regional office of a water and sanitation international NGO, which included building a lean team to oversee programming across Sub-Saharan Africa. She also advised small and medium enterprise owners in East Africa on their business models and investor strategies. Building on these experiences, she co-founded an online platform, LensShift, that facilitates critical reflection on power, privilege, and systemic injustice in the impact sector.
Ms. Shrivastava is recognized by the World Economic Forum as a Global Shaper and has been a guest lecturer at Cambridge University, the London School of Economics, and Columbia University. Ms. Shrivastava holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering with a minor in Environmental Engineering from Oregon State University and an MBA from Oxford University.