Aarti Tandon is the Co-Founder and CEO of Smart City Expo Atlanta (SCATL), the only U.S. edition of Smart City Expo World Congress from Fira Barcelona. SCATL is redefining what it means for a city to be “smart” with equity, prosperity, humanity, inclusion, and justice serving on par with blockchain, A.I., IoT, big data, and automation. SCATL focuses on social and economic mobility in addition to autonomous, shared, and electric mobility, intelligent infrastructure through the lens of social and equitable infrastructure, and the power of human and social capital in addition to venture capital.
Tandon served as the Executive Director of Smart Cities New York from 2017-2019 where she curated presidents, ministers, mayors, NGOs, CEOs, and top industry leaders for audiences of 2000+ people to harness the $1.6 trillion global smart city marketplace in an equitable and sustainable manner.
Tandon’s work is informed by her decades-long commitment to bringing diverse stakeholders together around social impact, criminal justice, and creating more inclusive economies. She spent over a decade representing clients ranging from Grammy nominated artists to emerging songwriters, filmmakers, publishers, producers, and more. She has overseen the tours of the world’s most famous Bollywood stars and organized high-level sports and entertainment delegations for the U.S. State Department in advance of the 2014 World Cup. She has consulted for new media platforms such as The Players’ Tribune, served as the Interim Executive Director of Blue Sphere Foundation, and served as a content producer of The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s Goalkeepers event for Empire Entertainment.
Having successfully campaigned President George W. Bush for the early release of a singer/songwriter serving time in prison – one of only 11 Commutations granted during President Bush’s eight years in office – Tandon is deeply committed to helping organizations use sports and entertainment platforms to advance social and criminal justice issues.
She is a Producer of Catching the Sun, a feature documentary on solar energy executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio and Adrian Grenier, released by Netflix on Earth Day 2016. She is also a Co-Executive Producer of The Uncondemned, a feature documentary released by Abramorama in October 2016 about the historic Akayesu case and first ever conviction of rape as a crime of war. The film, supported by Global Citizen and other worldwide organizations, includes the title track, Smile, by Maya Jupiter and Grammy-nominated musician, Aloe Blacc. Most recently, she served as a Co-Producer of the feature documentary, Survivors Guide to Prison, executive produced by Susan Sarandon, Gina Belafonte, Adrian Grenier, and others committed to criminal justice issues.
Tandon is member of the Blockchain Commission for Sustainable Development, a member of the Leadership Council of Blue Sphere Foundation, and a board member of Project Liberation. She is a graduate of Emory University (B.A., International Studies) and the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law (J.D.).
