Washington: The Biden administration has appointed an Indian-American climate and energy expert, who spent three years deploying solar energy solutions in rural India, to a key position in the agriculture department.
Bidisha Bhattacharyya Monday was appointed as Senior Policy Advisor in the Farm Service Agency (FSA).
She was earlier posted as Director of Climate and Energy Policy at the Centre for American Progress.
Prior to joining American Progress, Bhattacharyya was vice president of Emerging Markets at the impact-investment firm Village Capital, where she led a global team across India, Mexico, and East Africa to invest in high-impact startups innovating to solve problems across clean energy deployment and financial inclusion.
She previously spent three years deploying solar energy solutions in rural India with the technology startup Simpa Networks, where she led the end-to-end rollout of a new off-grid solar product line.
Bhattacharyya spent four years on Capitol Hill as Senior Energy and Agriculture Policy Adviser to Senator Al Franken of Minnesota and as Energy and Agriculture Legislative Assistant for Congressman Betty McCollum of Minnesota.
She holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from St Olaf College.
PTI