Chitra Kumar

Chitra Kumar is a public policy and planning expert at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Throughout her 17-year federal career, she has held various roles creating partnerships with federal, state and local organizations to develop more equitable strategies for environmental protection, land use and infrastructure, particularly in economically distressed small towns, rural areas and urban neighborhoods.

Currently, she is serving as the acting associate director of EPA’s Office of Environmental Justice. From March 2020 to 2021 Ms. Kumar was a senior fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Group and Thrive Rural. A second-generation immigrant to the rural Midwest, Chitra is particularly interested in advancing equity, environmental sustainability and economic resilience while highlighting immigrants’ contributions to the American economy. Chitra holds a Master in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts from Boston University.