Project Manager

Education:

• MS, Urban Planning, Graduate School of Architecture, Planning & Preservation, Columbia University, New York, NY
• BA, International Development, McGill University, Montreal, Canada  

Areas of Expertise:

Sustainability; resilience planning; environmental planning; training / education; community / stakeholders engagement; project management; feasibility studies; research and analysis; strategic partnerships; and, mapping and geocoding (ArcGIS).

“The multidisciplinary elements of the materials management industry inspire me with the possibility to create far-reaching change toward more sustainable, resilient, and socially just communities.”

Save Contact Info (vCard)

Ms. Manwelyan is a well-versed planning practitioner with more than 10 years of experience in sustainability, resilience, community engagement, training/education, and environmental justice in a wide range of multi-disciplinary roles as a consultant, county government senior planner, non-profit executive director, and entrepreneur. She has worked on projects ranging from food waste recovery and landfill diversion to circularity and industrial symbiosis..

Her experience includes working in both rural and urban communities as a county government senior planner, consultant, non-profit executive director, and entrepreneur. With a strong training and education background, she established food systems curricula as a Visiting Professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation; she founded Eco Practicum, an environmental leadership training program with 500 alumni; and has helped jurisdictions and organizations to imagine, implement, and operationalize principles of fairness, equity, and circularity.

Publications & Speeches

“Large Solutions for Large Waste,” presented at SOAR. (April 2024)

“Ending Food Waste to Landfill with The Inflation Reduction Act,” presented at the New York State Organics Summit. (April 2024)

“Federal Funding for Zero Waste Infrastructure,” presented at the American Sustainable Business Network Live Webinar. (April 2024)

“Federal Funding to Achieve Climate Goals through Sustainable Waste Management,” presented at the CDP Webinar. (March 2024)

“From Landfills to Clean Energy: How the Inflation Reduction Act Empowers Food Waste Diversion Projects,” published in Waste Today. (September 2023)

“Ending Food Waste to Landfill with the Inflation Reduction Act,” presented at the Federation of New York Solid Waste Conference. (May 2023)

“Ending Food Waste to Landfill with the Inflation Reduction Act,” presented at WasteExpo. (May 2023)

“Case Study: Kent County’s Sustainable Business Park,” presented at the International Society for Industrial Ecology Webinar. (March 2023)

“ESG Guidance: We Won’t Achieve What We Don’t Measure,” published in Waste Today. (January 2023)

“Nothing for Us Without Us: Furthering Equity and Justice in the Solid Waste Sector,” published in Waste Today. (March 2021)