Expert Bio

Neha Bhatt is Deputy Director of Policy Development & Implementation for Smart Growth America. Through advocacy and while working within government, Neha’s career has involved a mix of policy development and campaign management. Before joining SGA, Neha served as the Executive Director of the National Association of City Transportation Officials, where she organized best practices and policies workshops and lobbied on the federal transportation bill on behalf of city departments of transportation. Neha gained direct legislative experience while working as policy advisor to the Ward 6 City Councilmember in the District of Columbia. Highlights of that work included launching the city’s first car free day, implementation of a new market-priced parking pilot program, passage of new substantive storm water mitigation standards for the Anacostia Waterfront development zone and passage of new bike parking requirements for residential and commercial buildings. For almost five years, Neha served the Sierra Club’s Challenge to Sprawl Campaign. This work included congressional outreach, media outreach, lending expertise to local level smart growth campaigns around the nation, providing trainings and producing national reports. While earning her Master’s degree in Community Planning from the University of Maryland, Neha completed fellowships in the planning departments of Washington D.C. and Arlington, VA. She also joined an urban planning team and traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to evaluate a brownfield site and develop recommendations for redevelopment. Neha holds a Bachelor’s degree in Biology from the College of New Jersey.