Yamini Saxena

Yamini Saxena is a public policy professional committed to placing communities at the center of policy design and implementation. She holds a Master in Public Administration with a concentration in data and research from Harvard Kennedy School, where she co-chaired the Rural Caucus, served on the Kennedy School Student Government, and supported teaching in effective implementation, empirical methods, and negotiation and leadership as a teaching assistant. She also holds master and bachelor’s degrees in economics from Shiv Nadar University and the University of Delhi. Her professional experience spans government, education, and community development across India.

At the Delhi Legislative Assembly, she led data-driven initiatives addressing some of the city’s most pressing challenges, from mapping food access for migrant workers during the COVID lockdowns and supporting compensation outreach in riot-affected communities to strengthening public accountability and advancing legislative digitization. At Barefoot College in rural Rajasthan, she lived alongside underserved communities, working to reshape how students and families experienced education through curriculum redesign and community engagement, an experience that deepened her conviction that lasting change begins with listening before leading.

Through her work, Yamini seeks to build stronger public systems by ensuring that evidence and community voice are not competing priorities but complementary ones.

Initial Fellowship Focus: The fellow will help Cleveland assess home renovation needs, identify financing and partnership opportunities, and pilot a coordinated approach to housing preservation in two neighborhoods. The work will strengthen the city’s use of data, cross-sector collaboration, and approval processes, with the goal of developing strategies that can be scaled to stabilize neighborhoods citywide.