Rohit T. “Rit” Aggarwala is co-head of Sidewalk Urban Systems at Sidewalk Labs. He is also an adjunct professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University and recently chaired the Regional Plan Association’s five-year effort to develop a fourth regional plan for the New York metropolitan area.

Previously, Rit spent five years at Bloomberg Philanthropies in several related roles. He headed the sustainability practice at Bloomberg Associates, a philanthropic consulting firm that serves city governments, was special advisor to the chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group during mayor Bloomberg’s chairmanship of the organization, spearheading its transformation into a global leader, and he inaugurated the Bloomberg Philanthropies environment program, which grew to a total of USD 145 million in grants under his management.

From 2006 to 2010 Rit served as director of New York City’s Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability where he led the creation and implementation of “PlaNYC: A Greener, Greater New York.” PlaNYC has been hailed as one of the world’s best urban sustainability plans, leading New York City to a 19 percent reduction in its carbon footprint since 2005. Prior to joining City Hall, he was a management consultant at McKinsey & Company.

Rit holds a BA, MBA, and a PhD in US history from Columbia University, and an MA in Canadian history from Queen’s University in Ontario. He is a native of New York City.