Avantika is the Director of Waste Policy and Planning in the Department of Public Works and has been focused on waste reduction for several years. With intersectional interests and capabilities, she has worked to increase awareness and encourage behavior change to help individuals, organizations, and cities reduce their waste footprint. 

Before joining the City of Boston, she was an entrepreneur, helping individuals identify products that are sustainable, minimize adverse health impacts, and are made by organizations that support equitable work environments.

In the City of Boston, her work focuses on building programs and policies informed by the needs of grassroots stakeholders, including residents and sanitation workers. Her current areas of focus include identifying technologies to improve waste containerization, developing policies to reduce plastic pollution, promoting reuse, and encouraging innovation in the waste industry. She works to ensure collaboration among residents, civil society, industry, and government.

Avantika holds a Master in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, an MBA from the Institute of Marketing & Management and an undergraduate degree in Economics from the University of Delhi, India.