Varshini Balaji

About

Grounded
in human
complexity Varshini Balaji

As a researcher and anthropologist by training, I am deeply invested in exploring questions of equity, identity, and culture. My work is grounded in a commitment to understanding the many forces, historical, structural, communal, and interpersonal, that shape the human experience.

This foundation informs everything I do at the intersection of project management, mixed-methods research, impact-driven storytelling, and design research. I bring rigor and intuition in equal measure to large, complex data, consistently surfacing the findings that reframe how we understand a question.

At the core of my practice is a community-centered approach to research. I believe in always centering the people closest to a problem, understanding it from multiple angles, and humanizing those whose experiences are too often flattened into data points.

What drives me is complexity. I am energized by questions that resist easy answers, by the challenge of thinking across scale, and by the richness that emerges when people from different disciplines and backgrounds come together around a shared problem. I believe the most meaningful insights are born at those intersections, and that is exactly where I do my best work.

Mixed-Methods Research Community-Centered Design Impact Storytelling Ethnography Project Management Equity & Identity

Projects

Research that centers people, surfaces complexity, and translates into action.

Disability & Labor · Global Research

Mann: NGO for People with Intellectual Disability

Context

I partnered on a global research project, working with an organization that provides vocational training and job placement services for people with intellectual disabilities. I investigated the factors driving significant turnover and low retention among program graduates.

Approach

Through a mixed-methods ethnographic approach, I engaged a diverse range of stakeholders including people with intellectual disabilities, job coaches, caregivers, and managers to explore the layered challenges, shifting expectations, and competing definitions of "success" and "independence" that shape workplace outcomes. My contributions included translating and transcribing data across multiple Indian languages, thematic coding of data, and co-authoring an extensive recommendations report that translated key research findings into actionable best practices for workplaces across the country.

Education Equity · Design Research

Center for New York City Affairs

Context

I worked with the Center for New York City Affairs to improve the FAFSA application process for students in vulnerable conditions, specifically first-generation students and students with undocumented parents.

Approach

I conducted user interviews with counselors, parents, and students to inform the development of a website by translating key insights into strategic recommendations such as language translation, use of visual aids, and a clear FAQ section to create engaging and condensed resource guides that directly support students applying for FAFSA.

Labor Organizing · Impact Storytelling

New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Context

In 2021, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA) staged a 15-day hunger strike to demand relief from crushing medallion debt, a crisis that devastated the incomes of thousands of taxi workers following the rise of rideshare apps and claimed the lives of several drivers by suicide.

Approach

Through one-on-one interviews with taxi drivers and union leaders, I applied thematic coding to surface the narrative threads most likely to resonate with broader public audiences. I authored the full project narrative, grounding it in a detailed individual case study woven together with wider research findings to produce an impact-driven story. I also co-designed participatory workshop activities that brought taxi drivers and union leaders into a shared space to identify practices of mutual care and solidarity.

Ethnography · Migration & Labor

Community Building in Precarious Conditions

Context

I conducted ethnographic fieldwork across the Middle East and South Asia with low-income migrant workers to document their labor conditions and the ways they build community under precarious circumstances.

Approach

Drawing on in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participant observation, I gathered comprehensive data on their lived experiences. Interviews were conducted across multiple Indian languages, allowing for deeper engagement with participants in their native tongues. I translated these findings into impact-driven thought papers and reports for both academic and public audiences.

Varshini Balaji

Mann: NGO for People with Intellectual Disability

Center for New York City Affairs

New York Taxi Workers Alliance

Community Building in Precarious Conditions

Let'sconnect

Varshini
Balaji

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