As a Community Liaison Officer for BAKAD (Big Almaty Ring Road) Construction and Operation Project, Yekaterina Zhirova has experience mitigating the lack of accountability and transparency from local, rural, and regional government authorities. For her follow-on project in Kazakhstan, Yekaterina plans to initiate community severance mitigation plans for three rural districts and increase engagement within government structures in infrastructure development.

Yekaterina will be placed at TransForm in Oakland, CA to explore strategies for avoiding possible adverse impacts of infrastructure projects on communities, efficient community liaison approaches, and action plan implementation.