NYCHA’s Atefeh Riazi works to promote sustainability using a technology-based approach.
Atefeh Riazi has been with NYCHA (the New York City Housing Authority) since 2009 and has been the Acting General Manager since 2011. An electrical engineering graduate of Stony Brook University and seasoned IT specialist, she is one of the most successful CIOs in the world. But she’s also an extremely compassionate person and a philanthropist dedicated to helping the world become more sustainable and healthy.
Prior to her work with NYCHA, Atefeh Riazi was the CIO for Oglivy & Mather. During her time at Oglivy, she worked tirelessly to promote efficiency and green practices within the firm. This has extended into her time at NYCHA as well. Over the past few years, the New York City Housing Authority has made an enormous effort to become more sustainable and eco-friendly, and NYCHA’s Atefeh Riazi has been an invaluable resource and leader throughout the process.
Aside from working with to improve the efficiency at NYCHA, Atefeh Riazi has also worked extensively on projects to help bridge the digital divide—both in our communities and around the world. She’s promoted events like NYCHA’s Digital Vans project and is the Executive Director of Chief Information Officers (CIOs) Without Borders, which seeks to bring technology to communities in need.
CIOs Without Borders has projects in Rwanda and Vietnam, and has more in the works. Ms. Riazi hopes that by providing education, healthcare, and infrastructure services to these communities, they can help to solve everyday health problems.
“Climate change is the biggest challenge the human species faces,” she said in an interview with ITO America. “Global warming seems to rank among America’s concerns second only to terrorism.”