Shalini Vajjhala, PhD is the Executive Director of PRE Collective and a nationally recognized infrastructure and climate resilience expert with more than 20 years of experience designing, funding, and financing community-centered resilient infrastructure solutions. Over the last decade, she founded and led the design firm re:focus partners and co-founded The Atlas, an online platform for local government collaboration and innovation. Previously, Shalini served in multiple positions in the Obama Administration, including Special Representative in the Office of the Administrator and Deputy Assistant Administrator in the Office of International & Tribal Affairs at the US EPA and as Deputy Associate Director for Energy and Climate at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. She is currently a Board Member of Smart Growth America. Shalini holds a B.Arch in Architecture and PhD in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University.