Seema Thomas has been working on urban challenges for the past two decades as an urban and water specialist with a focus on community engagement. Prior to working at the World Bank, she worked with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to provide grants to universities focused on efforts to support disaster reduction risk management. Before her decade of grants management experience, her career focused on research and analytical work in low-income housing, residential transitions, and migration effects. She has a masters of distinction in urban planning from Harvard University, a masters of public affairs from Princeton University, and a bachelor of science in engineering, with honors, from the University of Pennsylvania.