Rajasekar
NYU Center for Global Affairs · Class of 2026
Tarun is a results-driven product and strategy professional who brings over four years of real-world technology leadership to this research. Before arriving at NYU, he launched the brand's first Canadian e-commerce platform and drove a 30% reduction in project delays through Agile delivery at one of the world's largest restaurant groups. He then moved to the Parkinson's Foundation, building the operational infrastructure that keeps a mission-driven organisation running at scale.
At NYU's Center for Global Affairs, Tarun is pursuing his M.S. in Global Affairs with a concentration in Environment and Energy Policy, connecting his product management toolkit to the structural questions of energy transition and climate accountability. His NYU Ethical Tech CoLab research modelled AI-powered supply chain efficiency at enterprise scale, projecting 30–50% cost reductions while designing human-in-the-loop oversight frameworks.
Currently at Avol, he is leading infrastructure partnerships and creating founding operational guides for drone operations in sustainable urban logistics. A proud Arsenal supporter, Tarun brings the same high-press intensity to his research: data-first, outcomes-focused, and always looking for the marginal gain.
"I've spent years building products that reach millions of users, and the hardest part is always the same — getting people to actually care. The World Cup already has that attention. Five billion people are watching. This research is really asking whether we're willing to use it for something that matters beyond the final scoreline."
— TarunKumaar Rajasekar
De Jesus
NYU Center for Global Affairs · Class of 2026
Before coming to NYU, Daniel built his career at the intersection of law and energy policy. A licensed attorney in the Philippines and awaiting his oath before the New York State Bar, he previously served in the Philippine House of Representatives, where he worked directly on energy-related legislation. That experience drafting and analysing policy gave him a practitioner's understanding of how governments translate climate commitments into law — and where those efforts fall short.
Today, Daniel follows football worldwide, club and international, and brings that ongoing engagement with the sport into his academic work in energy policy. His interest in the World Cup's climate footprint is not abstract. When he watches a tournament match played at noon in extreme heat, he knows what those players are enduring. That knowledge is what drives this research.
At NYU's Center for Global Affairs, Daniel concentrates on energy and environment policy with a focus on how large-scale events and infrastructure decisions shape national emissions trajectories, the exact lens through which this project analyses World Cup host nations. He currently serves as a Graduate Researcher at NYU SPS' Energy, Climate Justice and Sustainability Lab, conducting regulatory analysis on U.S. energy markets with a focus on Virtual Power Plants and PJM Interconnection frameworks.
"I've drafted energy legislation, conducted legal research on the Philippine transmission sector, and studied grid infrastructure across two continents. What this research taught me is that the World Cup is itself a kind of infrastructure, one that shapes how billions of people understand what a country values. We should be asking much more of it."
— Daniel Luis J. De Jesus