Our Team
Cali Williams
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.
Rana Amirtahmasebi
PARTNER
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.
Saritha Ramakrishna
ASSOCIATE
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.
Emilia Charno
ANALYST
Emilia Charno is a policy researcher and urban environmentalist based in New York.
Emilia is committed to growing a career in the service of cities – notably New York where she and her family are based. She’s an experienced writer and published original writing on the topics of environmental justice, public health, and disaster recovery. Most recently, she completed the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs where she was contracted to deliver key projects to organizations such as NYC Department of City Planning, the World Bank, and HR&A Advisors.
At Kyanite Partners, Emilia provides support on project management, research, strategic writing and business development.