Anjaly Ariyanayagam

Anjaly Ariyanayagam is the Strategy & Communications Officer at CCSI. She brings deep experience in strategic messaging and a strong belief in the power of participatory processes to drive sustainable solutions. Focusing on human rights, sustainability and environmental justice initiatives, she is passionate about engaging with stakeholders to identify their communication needs and getting clear messages out into the ecosystem.

At CCSI, Anjaly develops engagement frameworks and outreach strategies that help our work reach the rooms (and screens) of people who can act on it. She works closely with researchers to make complex ideas click through thoughtful communications and targeted engagement plans. Her recent work spans Just Energy Transitions, Land and Agriculture, and Climate Finance — where she’s helped strengthen internal systems and grow the Center’s reach with policy and practitioner audiences. She’s also building tools to better understand how research is received in the real world, supporting long-term learning and moving beyond likes and clicks.

Before joining CCSI, Anjaly worked at a brand consultancy firm, where she specialized in impact communications and led work for clients like Unilever and the United Nations. She later transitioned into the development sector, leading stakeholder engagement to co-design and evaluate skill-development programs in India. Most recently, she completed a fellowship with a public engagement firm, supporting state and city governments in New York through toolkits, participatory action planning, and coalition-building.

Anjaly holds a BS in Visual Communication from the University of Madras and an MPA in Development Practice from Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, learning to navigate on-the-ground insight and high-level frameworks — preferably mapped out in color-coded charts!