My Bio

I am a Fellow at the Jacobs Urban Tech Hub at Cornell Tech, where I research how cities pilot, procure, and evolve policy to accelerate the adoption of new technology. In 2022, I was on the New York Governor and Mayor’s “New” New York expert panel, tasked with reviving the region’s economy coming out of COVID-19. Outside of Cornell, I run Eckholm Studio, an urban strategy consultancy. In 2024, I miraculously snuck in to claim the last spot on City & State's "Women 100."

In my prior life, I was an executive, investor, and advisor to urban technology startups. I was the Chief Revenue Officer at Nabr, a sustainable housing company, an investor at Zigg Capital, and on the team at Sidewalk Labs, Google’s urban technology incubator. Through Sidewalk, I worked to popularize timber as a modern building material, including leading the first major research study of how to design a tall timber building.

While I am a proud fourth generation New Yorker, I grew up in Beijing, I spent my post-college years in Copenhagen, and I later worked in the Bay Area. I love drawing on my lived experience of cities in my work and writing. In the past year, I have published op-eds in the New York Times, Bloomberg, and the Los Angeles Times, and I have spoken at SXSW, WRLDCTY, MIPIM, and more. In 2014,  I was a National Geographic Explorer, covering the geopolitics of cities in Eastern Europe.

I graduated Summa Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Princeton's School of Public & International Affairs, with a focus on urban policy and planning. I also attended Stanford’s Graduate School of Business and the Doerr School of Sustainability. I am a LEED Green Associate and completed Coro Leadership New York, a leadership development program for mid-career civic leaders.