Our Team

FOUNDER

Cali is the founder of Kyanite Partners. She is a bridge-builder, strategic advisor and urban planner.

Underpinning her nearly two decades of practice in the non-profit, public and private sectors are a commitment to collaboration, transparency and the development of creative and meaningful processes to support leaders and communities to thrive. Her work encompasses multiple scales from downtown recovery plans to transit-oriented development master plans to major infrastructure and resiliency projects across the United States and Australia.

She gained expertise in economic development, neighborhood planning, and real estate development through her eleven years in leadership positions 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 from Cornell and a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

DIRECTOR

Saritha Ramakrishna is an urban planner, writer and researcher, with expertise in climate resilience, environmental justice, and infrastructure finance.

In addition to providing technical policy and data analysis, she has also supported strategic communications projects. Narrative writing and reporting of hers has appeared in the New Republic, Orion Magazine, Literary Hub and other publications.

She holds a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) from Arizona State University and a Master's in City Planning (M.C.P.) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

SENIOR ASSOCIATE

Bennett Capozzi joined the Kyanite Partners team full time in July 2025 after supporting the firm for a year as a Graduate Analyst while completing his Masters in City Planning at MIT. 

In the past year he has led a variety of client projects: he has brought together representatives from universities in the Boston Area to design a collaborative civic engagement project, is leading the development of the policy portfolio for the Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Council's submission to the Empire State Development ACHIEVE Competition, and is working with a national environmental justice non-profit on updating their strategic vision. As the firm's business development lead, Bennett has led the firm to winning several of its first competitive RFP processes throughout the NYC metro and NYS.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts in History & Literature from Harvard University (2017) and a Masters in City Planning from MIT (2024).

ANALYST

Alana is pursuing a career in urban planning, driven by her desire to make a positive impact on cities and open and green spaces. 

Alana has worked in Berlin, Germany; Williamstown, MA; and San Pedro Garza Garcia, Mexico.Her experiences living and working in different cities around the world have shaped the way she thinks about and relates to urban spaces. At Kyanite Partners, Alana led project management and research for our projects with the Southern Tier, Long Island and Finger Lakes Regional Economic Development Councils. She is currently supporting the development of economic development strategies for the Bronx and Washington DC.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in History & German from Williams College (2023).

ANALYST

Lewis is driven by a belief that community-centered planning, clean energy, and mission-based real estate can be catalysts for long-term local wealth-retention and community resilience.

His background in clean energy and economic research shapes how he approaches planning: through a lens of sustainability that has evolved through his work at Kyanite Partners to center equity and community ownership. He has experience in strategic economic development planning, redevelopment advisory for faith-based institutions, and program design for an on-the-ground capacity-building fellowship. 

At Kyanite Partners, Lewis has supported market research for real-estate assets, project managed a capacity-building fellowship out of MIT, and is currently supporting a strategic planning effort for a county in upstate New York. He also supports the business development pipeline with proposal management and execution.

Lewis holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business and Economics at Colorado College.

COLLABORATOR

Rana is an urban policy expert and an architect with two decades of international experience.

She is a multi-lingual urban planner, architect, and artist with twenty years of direct experience leading planning, cultural/arts policies, and economic development projects in cities around the world. She has developed projects in the aftermath of devastating wars and natural disasters around the world and is interested in devising growth and recovery strategies for cities post-Covid. Rana has worked with large institutions such as Multi-Lateral Development Banks, UN agencies, Cities Alliance, UNESCO and smaller organizations that work on local issues. Rana holds Master’s degrees in city planning and architectural studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Master’s of architecture from Azad University in her hometown of Tehran, Iran.

COLLABORATOR

Christine designs policy, business, and financial models that build community wealth and power.

Christine has worked with policymakers, investors, community-based organizations, business leaders, and labor unions to develop and implement bold strategies for economic inclusion. Christine spent nearly a decade in senior positions in New York City, where she designed and led initiatives to grow diverse businesses, improve job quality, and invest in underserved communities. She led strategic planning initiatives at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, supported scaling of community-based and direct service organizations, and contributed to accountability efforts at the World Bank. She is a graduate of Hunter College and received her Masters in City Planning from MIT. She is a Fellow of the Just Economy Institute and Aspen Institute's Economic Opportunity Program and a Board Member of the Democracy at Work Institute.  

COLLABORATOR

Andrew runs Trueblood.city, a housing, economic development, policy, and land use advisory firm.

He is currently supporting economic development and housing projects across the country including a few efforts in Washington, DC. He is a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute, a senior advisor for housing at the DC Policy Center, an adjunct curator for the National Building Museum, an adjunct faculty member at Georgetown University, and a Trustee of the DC Public Library Board. Previously, he was the Director of DC's Office of Planning, the Chief of Staff for DC's Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, and served at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Treasury's Community Development Financial Institution Fund and the DC Housing Authority. 

Andrew holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT and a B.A. from Princeton's School of Public and International Affairs.

COLLABORATOR

Alison is a real estate development executive with a focus on climate resilient and equitable development.

For over 20 years she has seen real estate projects from concept through asset management, directed teams of diverse stakeholders, and counseled innovative start-ups. Alison is known to be a pragmatic idealist, always pushing to do better than business as usual. While a principal at Hudson, she oversaw more than 4,500 residential units worth over $2B in the NYC metro. She joined Sidewalk Labs to head its urban development group which provided advisory services to clients across the United States. Today she is the CEO of Humane Works, a platform advancing innovation in real estate across the nation. Alison currently serves as a board director for the Urban Design Forum, and the Osborne Association and as a Trustee for the Citizens’ Budget Commission, as well as advisor and investor to several private real estate firms.