Poonam Pillai is a Senior Disaster Risk Management Specialist in the Urban and Disaster Risk Management Unit, East Asia and Pacific Region (EAP) at the World Bank. Her main areas of work include disaster risk management, hydromet and climate services, city resilience, and coastal resilience. She has extensive experience in leading operations and is the author of numerous peer reviewed publications. She leads the Bank-wide Hydromet Community of Practice and is the focal point for gender, climate and the City Resilience Program for the Urban Disaster Risk Management Unit, EAP. Prior to joining EAP, she worked in the World Bank’s South Asia Region where she led development of the South Asia Regional Hydromet Services and Resilience Program. She has an undergraduate degree in Physics, PHD in Cultural Studies and a Masters in City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.