Nausheen Rajan, Senior Consultant

Pronouns: she /her

Professional Experience: Nausheen is a Senior Consultant at Kinetic West. Her expertise includes workforce development, data analysis, civic engagement, and stakeholder management. Prior to joining the West team, she was on the Economic Development Team at Bloomberg Associates, where she advised clients on improving workforce outcomes to expand economic opportunity in cities such as Phoenix, Tampa, London, Newark, and New York. She also provided policy and data analytics support to the Office of Innovation in the state of New Jersey. In this role, she streamlined services for small businesses established in the state and led the work on creating an equity framework for digital services/tools. Previously, she engaged with issues at the intersection of foreign affairs and economic development through work with the U.S. Agency for International Development, U.S. Department of State, and leading think tanks in Washington, D.C. In 2021, she was the Harold W. Rosenthal Fellow at the U.S. Department of Labor.

Nausheen holds bachelor’s degrees in international studies and Asian studies from American University and a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. While at Princeton, Nausheen was awarded the inaugural Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Service and Leadership Award for her work as a Representative on the DEI Team, Co-Chair of Students and Alumni of Color, and Co-Chair of FIRST+ (a group for students who identify as first-generation and/or low-income).

Why I do this work: My parents immigrated from Pakistan in order to achieve economic mobility and healthier livelihoods. However, their path to economic opportunity in the U.S. was not linear, especially because they did not finish their education. What kept them going was the joy they got from serving our Muslim community. So, I'm acutely aware that there is still a lot of systemic change needed to narrow access gaps in marginalized communities. However, this cannot be done without equitable and evidence-based policy design, transformational innovation, and voices from our communities. The promise of societal progress through these means and the resulting impact from our work here at KW will continue to be strong motivators for me for years to come.

Where you’ll find me when I’m not consulting: Like my parents, service to my Muslim community is restorative for me, so I continue to do a lot of work in the community building and civic engagement spaces. Beyond that, you'll find me napping, reading, drinking masala chai, and watching way too much TV if my husband hasn't coerced me into an eight-mile hike.

Nausheen’s Project Experience