Utsa Ramaswami is a designer, organizer, and advocate with experience building power in housing and community justice. As a Senior Design Associate at Hester Street, she designs visual communication tools for community engagement, planning, and advocacy. She is currently a Fellow in the Center for Urban Pedagogy’s Design Justice as Practice Fellowship.
Prior to joining Hester Street, Utsa worked with Enterprise Community Partners, leading fair and affordable housing campaigns in New York State and City around source of income discrimination, housing access for people with arrest and conviction records or otherwise impacted by the criminal justice system, and inclusionary zoning and racial justice work to reinvest into segregated, redlined communities. Before that, she worked with Theaster Gates Studio and Rebuild Foundation, where she designed and led community outreach, as well as the US Green Building Center and SXSW Eco. She also does independent design work for grassroots movements, including creating the brand identity for KC Tenants in her hometown.
Utsa holds a B.A. in Urban Studies with a specialization in Architecture from Columbia University and a B.A. in Political Science from Sciences Po Paris, as a graduate of a dual degree program between the two universities.