In January 2022, Governor Newsom of California appointed Dr. Afzalan as Senior Advisor for Community and Economic Resilience, where he connected and tracked the implementation of climate and economic development policies, promoted environmental justice, and leveraged innovative tools.
In addition to founding The Triangle, Dr. Afzalan is currently the Endowed Chair of Social Justice and a Visiting Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. In this role, he teaches and researches innovative methods for driving climate and community resilience with equity.
Nader Afzalan, Ph.D.
Nader Afzalan, Ph.D., is the Founder of The Triangle. Dr. Afzalan’s international work emphasizes the link between climate resilience, environmental justice, data, and smart cities. His approach focuses on collaborative planning and community-centered design.
With over two decades of experience, Dr. Afzalan has led scalable policies, research, and program implementations on a global scale, with contributions in the U.S., China, Central America, and the Middle East.
Dr. Afzalan’s contributions include:
Designing, implementing, and evaluating climate and urban transition initiatives totaling over $1 billion. He has advised key U.S. government entities, including the White House, the EPA, and the DOE, as well as the State of California, on climate resilience policies and their links to environmental justice and economic development.
Leading the development of policy-support technologies, such as California’s first statewide data system on homelessness.
Providing strategic advice on international sustainable development projects. This includes advising NEOM in Saudi Arabia on the LINE project, advising the Yunnan province in China on integrating smart technologies to support sustainable ecotourism, and collaborating with indigenous communities and organizations in Panama to use new technologies for mapping the Panama forest.
Driving innovation in city planning and policy across government, start-ups, and non-profit organizations, including serving as Chair of the American Planning Association (APA) Technology Division and mentoring over twenty start-up companies.
Publishing over 30 articles and book chapters in international journals, focusing on innovative strategies for enhancing urban and regional resilience, sustainability, and justice.
Our story
It started in a meeting where a colleague, let’s call them James, presented a half-baked proposal. James suggested allocating over $250 million from a program budget to activities that none of the five people in the room fully understood. We couldn’t see how these activities connected to the overall program goals. Another colleague rightfully questioned why we shouldn’t allocate those funds to more relevant activities. James struggled to provide a convincing answer.
This scenario is common inside and outside of government. Often, teams are deep into the design and implementation phases but struggle to define the specific outcomes they want to achieve or the steps needed to get there. Leadership or legislatures typically set broad goals like improving job quality, fostering equitable economic development, reducing emissions, and enhancing community resilience. However, the difficulty of unpacking these broad terms makes it challenging to design and track the program’s success.
Ambiguities like these create inefficiencies, staff burnout, confusion, mistrust, and ultimately, less effective implementation.
That is why I decided to start this work—to help governments and other organizations design and implement their climate initiatives more effectively. The Triangle’s mission is to help organizations move from confusion and mistrust to clarity and trust.
