Ariza Nanji is a graduate student at the University of Michigan pursuing a Master of Science in Environment and Sustainability, with a concentration in environmental justice. Her research interests center on community-led climate adaptation, food–energy–health system interconnections, and the governance structures that enable scalable, community-centered environmental interventions. Ariza brings over a decade of experience in community-engaged program design and transnational project implementation across North America, Central Asia, and South Asia. She previously founded and led the Global Virtual School, an education initiative that reached more than 6,000 students across Tajikistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan through multinational partnerships. This work focused on youth leadership development, knowledge access, and institutional collaboration in resource-constrained regions experiencing environmental and social change. In the United States, she is the co-founder of the Good Energy Collaborative, a bi-city just energy coalition working in historically marginalized communities in Philadelphia and Chester. The initiative supports community-scale green infrastructure, workforce development, and climate resilience planning, with an emphasis on youth leadership, environmental justice, and participatory decision-making. Ariza holds a Bachelor of Arts in Peace and Conflict Studies and Economics from Swarthmore College.