Shalini Agrawal

Shalini Agrawal is an Associate Professor in the Critical Ethnic Studies Program and Interdisciplinary Studies at California College of the Arts (CCA), and a core member of the Decolonial School. Her work bridges architecture, public interest design, and equity-focused community engagement. She co-founded Pathways to Equity (2020 NOMA NAACP SEED Award recipient) and leads Public Design for Equity, a practice addressing systemic inequities in built environments.

She directed CCA’s Center for Art + Public Life, managing community-based programs and partnerships. Her roles include core organizer for Dark Matter U and founding member of the 3rd Space Lab Collective, fostering transnational creative collaborations. Agrawal is also a Spatial Justice Fellow at University of Oregon’s School of Architecture and Planning.

Her research emphasizes collaborative design with marginalized communities, earning recognition such as the AIA Equity by Design speaking engagements and contributions to Design for Democracy and Public Interest Design Education Guidebook. She serves on the board of the Design Futures Student Leadership Forum.