Saharnaz served as the Executive Director of State Planning and Policy Development with the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research, where she oversaw the development of state climate and environmental and land use planning policies and implements multiple programs to pilot new initiatives. Previously, she served as the Deputy Director of Community Investment and Planning at the California Strategic Growth Council, where she oversaw an investment of over 3 billion dollars in infrastructure programs and community-driven policy solutions. She collaborated with local and regional governments to pilot new initiatives aimed at bridging climate and equity goals, including the Transformative Climate Communities program. Saharnaz holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning with a Certificate of Sustainable Urban Infrastructure from the University of Colorado Denver, a Master of Urban Design and Planning from Shahid Beheshti University, and a B.A. in Architecture from Iran University of Science and Technology. With over twenty years of experience in the public and private sectors, Saharnaz has worked on infrastructure development, climate resiliency, and community development. In the private sector, she worked as a consultant on multiple community revitalization and urban design projects. Since 1990, ICLEI has built and served a movement of local governments pursuing deep reductions in carbon pollution and tangible improvements in sustainability and resilience. ICLEI is the world’s leading network of over 1,500 cities, towns and metropolises, providing hands-on assistance with technical experts located in 17 global offices.