Abhilaasha N was trained as an architect and urban planner, and currently works at the intersection of policy and practice, exploring how gender, housing, water, and sanitation shape everyday lives.

Since 2019, she has been part of the IIHS-led Tamil Nadu Urban Sanitation Support Programme (TNUSSP)—one of the largest initiatives to localise SDG 6 by scaling innovations across the full sanitation chain. Within TNUSSP, she has co-led programmatic areas focused on gender-intentional governance, strengthening women professionals in sanitation, and safe, equitable workplaces. Her work included analysing Tamil Nadu’s gender budgets and developing training modules, notably on the PoSH Act and workplace rights. She also played a key role in establishing a state-wide platform for NGOs to collaboratively strengthen urban sanitation efforts.

She was central to designing and implementing communication initiatives, including Kakkaman (a behaviour change campaign on FSM), Women in Sanitation (celebrating women professionals), and ‘We Speak Too’ (a seminar series centring sanitation workers). These initiatives earned the IWA Inclusive Urban Sanitation Champion Award (2023) and the World Emptying Challenge award (2021). She has presented her work at global platforms such as the UNC Water and Health Conference, IWA Congress, UN Water Conference, FSM6, WEDC, and World Water Week.

Abhilaasha’s work also engages with urban informality, service delivery, and spatial equity. She has co-led projects in Chennai’s urban poor settlements and supported WASH strategy implementation in resettlement colonies. As part of a CMDA-commissioned study, she conducted field research and stakeholder consultations to inform the spatial distribution of employment and income categories in Chennai’s third master plan.

She strives to shape inclusive cities by integrating practice, policy, and education into cohesive change.