team & careers

Radhika Lalit is the Industry Initiative Director at Climate Imperative, where she oversees grantmaking strategy to accelerate industrial decarbonization within the U.S.

She was previously a principal within the Climate-Aligned Industries Program at RMI, leading a team of experts to drive the decarbonization of the cement sector globally. She also served as the chief strategy officer for the Mission Possible Partnership, an alliance of climate leaders focused on supercharging decarbonization of the world’s highest-emitting industries and their value chains. In her role as the CSO, Radhika advised on strategy and partnerships for sectors like aviation, shipping, trucking, chemicals, cement/concrete, aluminum, and steel.

Radhika specializes in incubating and launching high-impact initiatives engaging coalitions of partners across industry, governments, and the financial sector to drive platform solutions to combat climate change. At RMI, she helped launch the Center for Climate-Aligned Finance to help financial institutions support the transition of their industry clients toward a net-zero carbon future. Radhika also co-led the Global Cooling Prize, an international competition to incentivize breakthrough innovations in vital yet high climate impact residential air conditioning systems. This prize was initiated by Mission Innovation, the Government of India, and RMI. The Prize, the innovation, and the impact it has spurred have been covered by the BBC, CNN, CNBC, the New York Times, Forbes, and other international media. The innovations from the prize will be commercially manufactured.

Prior to RMI, Radhika worked as a sustainability strategy consultant to over 30 Fortune 500 corporations in India. She was recognized as a Generation Climate Leader in 2021 by Environmental Defense Fund and was an awardee for the 40 under 40 award by Energy News Network in 2020.

Radhika holds an M.A. in International Policy Studies from Stanford University and an MBA in Finance and Marketing from the TERI School of Advanced Studies. She has also earned a Bachelors of Technology in Electronics and Communications Engineering from the Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University in India. Radhika is also a self-published children’s book author. She lives in Jersey City with her family and enjoys traveling with her family and practicing yoga.