Ishleen works as the Engagement Lead for the Sustainable Water Team at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW). She comes with 12+ years of experience working with government stakeholders, multilateral agencies, and civil society organizations. She formerly worked as a Senior Environment Specialist at the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), where she discovered urban water resource management as the larger calling of her professional journey. Since then, she has worked closely with different government and non-government stakeholders to scale initiatives on river and groundwater management across 35 cities in India.
 
She is trained as an architect and holds a postgraduate degree in Urban Regeneration from Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi. Her professional journey began in the informal settlements of Jhansi, where she worked closely with communities to integrate slums and urban villages into the City's Sanitation Plan. She gives a lot of impetus to this early, on-ground experience in shaping her understanding of urban complexities and continues to inform her approach to policy design and implementation. Since then, she has been working towards translating policy into actionable solutions that deliver lasting environmental and social impact.
 
In her leisure time, she enjoys watching war documentaries and period dramas, and reading about Global and Indian political history. She is also passionate about exploring the world through photography and is a novice birder. Learning about different cultures, theology, the planet, and the diverse culinary traditions of regions across the world keeps her thriving.