Founder and CEO of Vertiver

Chhaya Bhanti is the founder and CEO of Vertiver, an oranisation that focuses on building behaviour change strategies for climate resilience and natural resource conservation. She has supported more than 100 projects across forestry, human-wildlife conflict, sustainable agriculture, waste management, health, water and renewable energy. Passionate about applying a multi-disciplinary lens to problem solving, Chhaya leads a team of agri scientists, researchers, behaviour change and communication experts, designers and filmmakers to deliver integrated solutions that leverage technology and innovation alongside traditional knowledge and community engagement to address conservation and climate challenges at the last mile.

Chhaya has been part of many research studies that support policy-level decisions to address climate and conservation challenges. She co-led FCDO’s Nature-based Solutions study with Iora Ecological Solutions, developing a framework for rating NbS projects across co-benefits of DRR, biodiversity protection, climate change adaptation and mitigation. Her work on sustainable agriculture includes FarmerZone by the Department of Biotechnology, GoI, TiGR2ESS by University of Cambridge, Unnat Kheti by CIFF and PRANA by NCIS under TNC. She has supported the MoEFCC, GoI on India’s NDC Goal 5 and Mission LiFE and has contributed to the development of various innovative behavior change communication materials and gamified tools in vernacular languages (Assamese, Gujarati, Punjabi, Hindi) to raise awareness on and enhance adoption of solutions to climate impacts.