Nisha Baliga, Co-Executive Director, has worked extensively with public agencies, community organizations, cities, and private institutions on master plans, programming studies, and urban design frameworks. Before Hester Street, Nisha worked as a Senior Associate in the Urban Design and Planning Studio at Beyer Blinder Belle for more than 10 years. Nisha’s experience includes project for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, New York City Department of City Planning, New York State, Princeton University and Aga Khan University. In her role as Senior Planner on a large campus master plan for the Aga Khan University, Nisha was posted for almost two years in Arusha, Tanzania.
Nisha is bilingual and received a Master of Urban Planning from Columbia University, where her Master’s research and thesis explored Community Based Upgrading and Tenure Regularization methods in the informal settlements in Nairobi, Kenya.
At Hester Street, Nisha has lead multiple large scale projects involving infrastructure, resiliency, arts and culture, health and wellness, open space and urban planning for public and private entities. She oversees Hester Street’s planning and capacity building portfolio and has lead large scale projects such as CreateNYC, Cities RISE and Take Care New York 2020. She was named Co-Executive Director of Hester Street in 2019.