Mai Sistla
Assistant Program Director
As an Assistant Program Director at EPIC, Mai Sistla will help lead a new initiative developing practical, nonpartisan blueprints to modernize governance systems that protect clean water, clean air, and community resilience across the country. Mai has spent over a decade working at the intersection of policy, the environment, technology, and the nonprofit sector. She most recently spent seven years at the Aspen Institute, where she helped build and lead a program that trained scientists and technologists to advocate for policy change and serve in government. She has also worked in climate philanthropy, supporting research on early-stage, high-impact climate solutions, and began her career working on education policy and crime prevention. Across her career, Mai has focused on turning ambitious ideas into practice, grounded in a belief that effective and efficient government institutions are essential to delivering better outcomes for people and the planet. She holds a BA in economics from Northwestern University and a graduate degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.
Get to Know Me Further
I was raised in the Chicago suburbs by immigrant parents who taught me to care deeply about the world around me—both its people and its places. My love of nature is intertwined with my love of cities: few things make me happier than experiencing the pockets of green tucked into urban life, especially a bustling city park. Outside of work, I’m usually picking up a new hobby, plotting a train trip, wandering through a bookstore, finding a new hike, or saying yes to whatever else sounds fun.