Get to Know Cali

September 30, 2022 | Interview by Emilia Charno

The view from Little Island in Manhattan.

Cali and her daughter Camilla at Coney Island.

Cali is the founder of Kyanite Partners. She is a bridge-builder, strategic advisor and urban planner. She gained expertise in economic development, neighborhood planning, and real estate development through her eleven years at the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), where she was a Senior Vice President and the Director of the Sunnyside Yard Master Plan. She received a Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Studies from Cornell University and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

What was your journey to founding Kyanite Partners?

My journey to founding Kyanite Partners started when I was quite young. I’m a fifth-generation New Yorker and I always loved to explore NYC sparked by a curiosity to try to understand what makes the city work.

This early fascination with cities led me to live in Rome, San Francisco, and Western Australia. Over the course of my career I worked at a small urban economic development consulting firm, national non-profit and in the public sector. I spent nearly eleven years working at the New York City Economic Development Center on some of the most impactful and inspiring projects, including the Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market, Downtown Far Rockaway, and the East Waterfront Greenway. Becoming a mother and living through the pandemic helped me to realize that I wanted to have more flexibility and creativity around the types of projects I worked on and the people that I worked with. I started Kyanite Partners in collaboration with my long-time friend Rana Amirtahmasebi in June 2021 in order to carry out and live in alignment with my purpose and values.

What is the meaning for you behind the name Kyanite Partners?

Kyanite is a mineral found in rocks all over the world, and specifically in Manhattan schist that forms the bedrock of New York. It is also found in Brazil, Australia, and other countries that I have worked and spent time in over the course of my life. Speaking to “Partners” I see all of our work as done in partnership with others - clients, community members, and others. My leadership style is collaborative, and I approach all of my work thinking about how we can best partner with others to co-create a more just and resilient world.

What are the values that drive your work? How do these values inform how you practice leadership?

My core values are rooted in trust, relationships, and justice. I always aim to be a thoughtful strategy partner, advisor, and connector for our clients and collaborators.

We are living in unprecedented times, feeling the daily impacts of the climate catastrophe. I strongly believe that all of our work needs to be focused on how to confront the climate crisis. The realities of a massively changing environment within our communities and cities impacts everyone and everything. I’m thinking seven generations ahead - about what the cities that I leave to my daughter and future generations will look like. Building off of a rich history of generational learning or “looking backwards to go forwards” is part of what inspired me to become an urban planner. It is my goal that all of our projects at Kyanite will play a role in response to the climate crisis.

What makes this team uniquely capable of executing projects in service of our clients and the communities they serve?

We are a small and growing team committed to being thought and strategy partners with our clients and that means going deep into these relationships. As a small firm, you get our individualized attention as well as our flexibility and ability to be nimble.

One of our team’s most valuable skills is a simple and powerful one: we all strive to be good listeners and communicators. Kyanite Partners is only one year old, but as our team and skill set grows we have sharpened our ability to listen deeply and ask thoughtful questions. We work to hear through the static to get to the bottom of the issues at hand and lift up those around us.

At this moment of looking back on our inaugural year of work, what are Kyanite’s achievements?

Our key achievement is our growing team! I’m so proud of the team that Rana and I are building together.

What challenges did we face?

We have been building Kyanite as we go! There are so many daily operations and business decisions that can feel overwhelming at times. I’m grateful for Rana, friends, mentors, and others who are walking along this path beside me. To work in community with other small business owners and female leaders has been incredibly supportive.

How would you describe the company culture at Kyanite?

We strive to create an inclusive, communicative, collaborative, and joyful company culture at Kyanite Partners. My hope is our growing team can all feel comfortable showing up as fully - and sometimes messily - as we are and bring our full personhood.

What are the places that have deeply shaped you?

New York City is where my heart and my family are. My husband’s family are immigrants from Guyana and they moved to the same neighborhood that my grandmother moved following WWII: Jamaica, Queens. I have a deep place in my heart for Southeast Queens. Other places that are meaningful to me are the Catskills Mountains and Oakland, CA and Melbourne, Australia.

Is there anything that you’re reading or watching that’s inspiring you?

I just started a book called Coming Back to Life by Joanna Macy. Joanna is an author, teacher, and Buddhist thinker who addresses spiritual and psychological components of modern-day life. She has created a framework called “The Work that Reconnects,” which addresses personal and social change. Her focus is to help transform despair and apathy into constructive action - something I share as a core goal!

I’m thinking seven generations ahead - about what the cities that I leave to my daughter and future generations will look like. Building off of a rich history of generational learning or “looking backwards to go forwards” is part of what inspired me to become an urban planner.

Cali at Redwood Regional Park in Oakland.

Aerial shot of Governor’s Island. Govisland.com.