Project Management

Drainage and Wastewater Residential Customer Education Program Development

From 2017-2019, Nanda managed a team of community based social marketing experts and multicultural outreach strategists to guide Seattle Public Utilities in the development of a strong wastewater education program. The program focused on sewer drain protection, side sewer maintenance, and improved customer access to programs and services.

The NLBG Consulting team conducted comprehensive behavioral research and designed and implemented a pilot customer education campaign with the ultimate goals to: 1) Reduce fats, oils, and grease poured down the drain to protect public health, the environment, and Seattle’s aging infrastructure; and 2) Ensure that Seattle’s diverse residents have access to clear, helpful information from SPU.

Research activities included city-wide electronic surveys; intercept surveys in English, Vietnamese, Spanish, Tagalog, and Chinese; focus groups; one-on-one interviews; door-to-door outreach; and special attention to multifamily property needs and nuances. Research results fueled a successful behavior change campaign with the NLBG team developing messages, taglines, collateral materials, visual prompts, and evaluation metrics.

As overall Project Manager, Nanda facilitated regular meetings with key SPU staff and managed all invoices, timelines, deliverables, tracking, stakeholder presentations, and overall activities.

Community Involvement for Capital Projects – South Park Pump Station

Managing community outreach efforts as the City prepares to construct a pump station in an industrial zone, and historical flooding site, of Seattle’s South Park neighborhood. Outreach includes public surveys to gauge feedback on design elements, fact sheets, one-on-one conversations with residents and business owners, and other tools as the team looks ahead to construction.

West Seattle High-Rise Bridge Communications

Coming Soon!

Public Involvement & Community Engagement

Fresh Fruits & Vegetable Program

From 2019-2020, worked with the City of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability to enhance efforts to offer no-cost, daily fresh fruits and vegetables to elementary schools with high free and reduced lunch program enrollment. Worked with eligible schools to generate interest in the program, ascertain the needs of each school, and address obstacles preventing their participation. Developed outreach materials for students and staff, communicated regularly with schools, and tracked participation.

Pearl Street Drainage Improvement Project

Providing community outreach for a multi-year infrastructure improvement project in Seattle’s west Beacon Hill neighborhood meant to help reduce storm-related combined sewer backups and flooding. Working with Seattle Public Utilities to provide up-to-date communications and hear input from design through construction. Work includes: drafting listserv posts, coordinating public open houses, sharing information door-to-door, writing and translating fact sheets, and managing graphics creation for online and written materials.

Seattle Public Schools and City of Seattle Partnership Agreement

In 2018, worked with Triangle Associates to coordinate community engagement efforts between multiple city departments and school-related entities as well as the general public. Facilitated creation of a public engagement plan that included early outreach to stakeholders to hear interests, concerns, and opportunities for equitable engagement. Coordinated meetings and team communication. Led writing efforts and public engagement planning. Ultimately, the clients ended the project before completing public engagement efforts.

Meydenbauer Basin / NE 8th & 100th Storm Drain Replacement

In 2017, facilitated a group of government employees through a Bleiker-based consent-building process to identify stakeholders and potential issues from design through construction. Developed a public outreach plan with key messages, stakeholder engagement recommendations, and timeline for reaching impacted residential and commercial audiences in a high-traffic area.

Terminal 117 Cleanup & Construction Public Engagement

From 2013-2017, led outreach efforts with a team of agencies on the City of Seattle’s Superfund cleanup project at Terminal 117 in a historically diverse and under-served neighborhood. Throughout design and construction, Nanda was the front line between the public and agencies to ensure that local residents were engaged and informed of all steps along the intensive cleanup process. Tasks included: Communicating regularly with the public through various channels; regularly attending meetings and neighborhood events; creating outreach materials; responding to neighborhood feedback; tracking all communication and outreach activities; updating the project’s website and Community Resource Guide; and facilitating smooth interactions between the project team and the public.

Facilitation

Zero Waste Washington

Served as Board Member-at-Large (2010-2014) and Board Chair (2014-2017) for a small, Seattle-based non-profit organization that strives for zero waste through statewide legislation, product stewardship, research and community-driven programs. As Board Chair, Nanda provided oversight of all board activities, primary communication with Program Director, responsibility for growing and training the board, facilitation, and strategic direction.

Midlakes Pump Station Redevelopment

Facilitated a group of Bellevue government employees through a Bleiker-based consent-building process to identify stakeholders and potential issues around a pump station redevelopment project in a mostly industrial part of the City of Bellevue.

Volunteer & Event Coordination

King County Household Hazardous Wastemobile Education Program

Working at Cascadia Consulting Group from 2000-2006, led the outreach program designed to reach all King County residents with messages about reducing hazardous products in the home and proper disposal of such products. Trained and coordinated educators each year for outreach sites throughout King County and implemented behavior change tools and surveys with the public. Tracked all outreach activities and managed all annual full-day training logistics.

King County Master Recycler Composter Program

Working at Cascadia Consulting Group from 2000-2006, coordinated hundreds of volunteers to participate in an annual training to receive certification as a Master Recycler Composter. Matched volunteers with hundreds of events throughout King County; tracked all volunteer activities; wrote monthly and annual reports.

Waste Reduction & Recycling Technical Assistance

School Recycling Assistance Program

Snohomish County Public Works, in partnership with two local waste haulers, has an on-going goal to increase recycling rates in schools throughout the region. As manager for the recycling assistance task from 2012-2015, Nanda worked with over 100 schools to help reach their waste reduction goals. She was the recycling expert that connected program visions with operational realities. Nanda was responsible for consistently communicating with schools, tracking all activities, calculating recycling rates, providing customized resources, writing educational documents and reports, and being the main link between a school community, its waste hauler, and the local government.

Multifamily Recycling Research and Multicultural Outreach

Managed in-depth research project about recycling practices, operations, barriers, and opportunities for increased recycling at 60 apartment buildings. Responsible for creating customized outreach forms, being the main point of contact for the multicultural outreach team, providing educational resources, analyzing audit data, and writing the final comprehensive report for the client.

Editing, Writing, Research

Antioch University graduate studies research

While in graduate school in 2006 at Seattle’s Antioch University, Nanda worked closely with the local group, Collaborative on Health and the Environment in Washington State (CHE-WA), to understand regional health and justice issues and ultimately inform her thesis project entitled, “Information-Sharing in Service of Environmental Justice: Research and Action in Washington State.” In addition to her thesis work with CHE-WA, Nanda also helped populate information on their online portal of statewide environmental contaminants and health effects. She sorted through and merged research findings on specific health disparities as tracked across different races and ethnicities in Washington State.

Recycling & Solid Waste Program Coordinator for the University of Washington

From 2009-2011, coordinated daily operations as well as broader programmatic objectives for the University of Washington’s Recycling & Solid Waste department. Created databases and measurement tools to track the UW’s goal of reaching a 60% recycling rate by 2012. Implemented a school-wide collection and recycling program for Styrofoam. Coordinated annual “trash-in”, a comprehensive waste sorting, data collection, and education activity.