Junaid Ahmad, a Bangladeshi national, is currently the World Bank Country Director for India. Prior to this assignment, he was the Chief of Staff, Office of the President. Prior to his work in the President’s Office, Mr. Ahmad was the Senior Director for the Water Global Practice, a position in which he brought a strong track record of management and leadership in the area of service delivery and international partnerships, combining intellectual and analytical rigor with strategic operational focus. Mr. Ahmad has also worked in the areas of urban finance and city management, service delivery in federal systems, and local government reform. He holds a PhD in Applied Economics from Stanford University, an MPA from Harvard University, and a BA in Economics from Brown University.

Ajay Mathur is the Director General of the International Solar Alliance (ISA). Prior to joining ISA, Dr Mathur was Director General of The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).  At TERI, he spearheaded the move to accelerate action towards a low-carbon and cleaner economy through the promotion and adoption of renewable energy and green hydrogen in the Indian electricity sector, enhancing efficiency in buildings and industry, and promoting environmental quality. He earlier headed the Indian Bureau of Energy Efficiency and also served as the interim Director of the Green Climate Fund during its foundational period. Dr Mathur received a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the (then) University of Roorkee, and Masters and PhD degrees from the University of Illinois.  He has also received the Distinguished Alumnus Awards. 

Sandeep Poundrik is the Director-General, Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure. He has been overseeing the work of the CDRI Secretariat since its inception. Mr. Poundrik is from the 1993 batch of Indian Administrative Service, having work experience of more than 25 years. He has worked at national level including in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas and National Disaster Management Authority. He has experience of heading infrastructure departments at state level including Urban Development and Energy. He has been associated with international organizations like Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and The World Bank. With bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering, he also holds Master’s in Public Administration in International Development from University of Harvard.

Vijetha is a World Bank Transport Specialist who joined the organization in 2020 and is currently working for SAR Transport GP in India. Vijetha has a wealth of knowledge and experience in climate and disaster risk management, particularly as it pertains to transportation and infrastructure. Her goal is to reduce risk by creating safer communities and long-term infrastructure. She has been aiding with the execution of lending operations as well as giving support and guidance on climate and disaster resilience initiatives for all sub-sectors of transportation (highways, rural roads, urban roads/mobility, railways, waterways, airways, and logistics). Vijetha worked for private construction and consulting firms for over a decade before joining the Bank, where she supported a wide range of national and international projects involving transport engineering & planning, traffic modelling, disaster resilience, and construction management. Vijetha has a Master of Science in Civil Engineering for Risk Mitigation from the Politecnico di Milano in Italy, as well as a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering from Andhra University in India.

Oceane Keou is a Senior Transport Specialist at the World Bank. Oceane has been leading the preparation/implementation of lending operations and advisory engagements focusing on promoting climate resilient connectivity along major highway corridors and in rural areas. As a Climate Focal Point, she developed the Flagship Resilient Transport Guidance Note and has been supporting the Transport GP in defining the climate resilient transport global strategy. Oceane joined the World Bank in 2013 working in Europe and Central Asia on transport and trade development projects as well as urban transport systems reforms. Prior to joining the Bank, Oceane worked at the French Ministry of Sustainable Development in Paris supporting implementation of the Grand Paris Express Project – largest transport project in Europe, as well as at the Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management, and at the United Nations Secretariat working on transport planning and performance management systems. A French national, Oceane holds a Master of Civil Engineering and Planning from the French Ecole Nationale des Travaux Publics de l’Etat, and an MPA in International Development Policy and Management from New York University.

Constantine (Costa) Samaras is an associate professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Affiliated Faculty in the Energy Science, Technology and Policy Program at Carnegie Mellon University. His research spans energy, climate change, automation, and defense analysis. He directs the Center for Engineering and Resilience for Climate Adaptation and is Co-Director of the Power Sector Carbon Index. He is a fellow in Carnegie Mellon's Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and by courtesy, a faculty member in both the Department of Engineering and Public Policy and CMU's H. John Heinz III College of Information Systems and Public Policy. Costa received a joint Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering and Engineering and Public Policy and from Carnegie Mellon, a M.P.A. in Public Policy from the Wagner Graduate School of Public Service at New York University, and a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Bucknell University.

Kevin McPherson is a Principal Consultant in asset management with TRL Ltd in UK. He joined TRL in UK in year 2017, before that he had extensive experience in design and implementation of planning systems overseas. He has been technical specialist on many planning projects in Asia and Africa, with responsibility for design, embedment and training of processes and systems. Kevin has very strong technical experience in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and related areas including Building Information Modelling (BIM). In India, he has worked in Gujarat, Karnataka, Odisha, and Sikkim. 

S.K. Nirmal is currently Secretary General of the Indian Roads Congress. He has been associated with IRC for more than 30 years. Mr. Nirmal joined the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India in 1986. From 1986 to 2017 he worked at various offices of the ministry, in various capacities. He also worked in the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) during 2003-2009 as General manager and 2009-10 as Chief General Manager. He has received his Master’s in Road Engineering from DELFT, The Netherlands.

Shomik Mehndiratta is the World Bank’s Practice Manager for Transport in South Asia. He has been at the World Bank since 2002 (except for a short break in 2015) working primarily in East Asia, Latin America and Africa. Shomik has served in the past as the Transport Sector’s technical lead on urban mobility and climate-informed transport. In 2015 he briefly worked with Uber as Director of Policy; and prior to the World Bank he worked at CRA International, a business and economics consulting firm, based out of Boston MA. Shomik holds a PhD from the University of California at Berkeley and an executive MBA jointly from INSEAD and Tsinghua University.

Since 2006 Mr. Francesco Geri had been working in the Department of Civil Protection of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. Lieutenant colonel of the Italian Fire Brigade until 2005. He is currently responsible for the sectors of industrial risk, transport of dangerous substances, critical infrastructures and for national nuclear radiological risk planning. He worked as a coordinator in the management of emergencies related to various types of risk including seismic, volcanic, hydrogeological, tsunami, industrial risk. He also has experience in the NBCRE (Nuclear - Biological - Chemical - Radiological) sectors, large mass events and of particular institutional importance. For over 25 years he has been involved in activities related to risk management, with experience in the field of risk analysis, forecasting, prevention, planning, emergency management up to the restoration of normal conditions. 

Rowan Douglas is head of the Climate and Resilience Hub at Willis Towers Watson, supporting the management, regulation and financing of risks from climate, terrorism, cyber and other perils. He is also chair and creator of the Willis Research Network (WRN) that links more than 60 organizations in science, academia, think-tanks and the private sector to confront risk modelling challenges. In 2015, he founded the Insurance Development Forum with the World Bank, UN and global industry leaders to address the UN 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreements. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Geography and a M. Phil in Geographical Science from University of Bristol.

Kamal Kishore has worked on disaster risk reduction and recovery issues for over 22 years at the local, national, regional and global levels. Prior to joining the National Disaster Management Authority, he worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) for nearly 13 years in New Delhi, Geneva and New York. At UNDP headquarters he led global advocacy campaigns to address disaster risk reduction concerns in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and the post-2015 development agenda. As programme advisor, he also led the development of disaster and climate risk management related elements of the UNDP Strategic Plan (2014-17). Prior to UNDP, he served at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre as Director of Information and Research, and Manager of the Extreme Climate Events Programme covering Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Kamal Kishore has a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, and a Master’s degree in Urban Planning, Land and Housing Development from the Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok.

Abhas Jha is Practice Manager, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, South Asia Region within the Urban, Resilience and Land Global Practice for the World Bank. He leads a global team working on infrastructure lending, technical assistance, and advisory services within the World Bank. Abhas works on cities, infrastructure finance and economics, technology, climate risk and resilience, and public policy. He has been with the World Bank since 2001, working on policy reform and development finance in a variety of countries. Abhas earlier served as Adviser to the World Bank Executive Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Sri Lanka. He was for 12 years a member of the Indian Administrative Service (the national senior civil service of India) in the Government of India (in the Federal Ministry of Finance and earlier in the state of Bihar).