Deepa Vedavyas serves at the Cleveland Foundation as Program Manager, Neighborhoods and Environment. In her current role, Deepa works on an integrated broad-based approach that knits together the work of built environment, neighborhoods, housing and community development and build capacity for Greater Cleveland’s environmental sector to advance equity.
In her former role she served as the Sustainability Manager at the Mayor's Office of Sustainability in Cleveland, Ohio. She managed and documented the citywide LEED for Cities certification process as one of the 20-city cohort by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) in 2020 and managed the completion of Cleveland’s Clean and Equitable Energy Plan, a roadmap for the city to get to 100% renewable energy by 2050. Additionally, she has served in various leadership roles in community development, education, planning and design consulting.
She holds a Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and a Bachelor’s in Architecture (B.Arch) from Adhiyamaan College of Engineering, India. She was part of Harvard's Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership cohort in 2017.
She serves as an appointed member of the USGBC's LEED for Cities and Communities Working Group; co-chair of the UN SDSN Diversity, Equity and Justice for Sustainable Development Working Group; serves as the Climate Champion of OH (2021-22) appointed by the American Planning Association’s Sustainable Communities Division; and is a member of the City of Cleveland's Healthy Neighborhoods Committee.