Making cooling accessible and affordable for all
by Ankit Kalanki, Caroline Winslow and Rushad Nanavatty
Ankit Kalanki is a Senior Associate with the Carbon-Free Buildings Practice at RMI where he is the technical lead on the Global Cooling Prize. He is also the market sector lead for the buildings sector with Third Derivative – a joint venture of RMI and New Energy Nexus – working with startups, investors, and corporates to accelerate the speed of climate innovation. Ankit brings over 6 years of professional experience in the energy sector spanned across the industry, management consulting, and non-profit research organizations. He has deep technical expertise in cooling technologies including an understanding of markets and policy dimensions of the space. His current focus includes identifying innovative cooling and other building technologies and climate-friendly refrigerants and supporting the commercialization and scaling goals of these technologies.
In his past roles, he advised clients from government and multilateral agencies to promote the adoption of energy efficiency across multiple sectors. Ankit has a Master’s in Energy Science, Technology and Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and a B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee.
Caroline Winslow is a Senior Associate with the Carbon-Free Buildings Practice at RMI, specifically working on the Global Cooling Prize. While supporting the Prize, Caroline established and managed a coalition of over 25 global nonprofit partners, recruited international Prize applicants, developed thought leadership pieces, and led the Prize’s global marketing and communications outreach. She is also the Corporate Engagement Manager for Third Derivative – a joint venture of RMI and New Energy Nexus. Caroline is passionate about leveraging cross-sectoral collaboration, innovation, and disruptive technologies to accelerate climate solutions. Prior to joining RMI, Caroline received an undergraduate degree in Environmental Policy from Colby College. Her research while at Colby included studying fishery supply chains, both in Maine and Panama, while working with project partners at the USDA and Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute.
Rushad Nanavatty leads RMI’s urban transformation work, currently focused on helping U.S. cities achieve their climate, sustainability, and clean energy goals. Rushad established the City Renewables Accelerator, an initiative of the American Cities Climate Challenge providing over 100 U.S. cities with technical assistance related to decarbonizing their electricity systems. The work has helped deliver some of the largest ever municipal renewable energy transactions and most impactful utility and regulatory engagement by cities in the United States. Rushad also helped establish and lead the Global Cooling Prize, a global innovation competition to develop a climate-friendly residential cooling solution that produces 80 percent lower emissions than today’s standard room air-conditioners. Previously, he worked with the Energy Web Foundation (EWF), a partnership between RMI and Grid Singularity to develop promising applications for blockchain technology in the energy sector. Prior to joining RMI, Rushad served as the founding COO of WeGen Energy, a start-up developing off-grid energy solutions and virtual power plants in the Philippines and Vietnam, utilizing a mix of distributed solar and battery energy storage.
Before WeGen, Rushad spent six years at McKinsey & Company as a member of the firm’s sustainability, infrastructure, and private equity practices. While at McKinsey, he led projects for clients across Africa, Asia, and the Americas; including market entry, growth, turn-around and sustainability strategies, operations transformations, reorganizations, and commercial due diligences. Rushad has a Master’s degree in International Relations and International Economics from the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy from St. Stephens College at the University of Delhi.
