Sonia Shahid is a project manager and evaluation expert with interests in market development, behavior change, urban planning, migration, circular economy, institutional reform, and governance systems. Her key research areas include sanitation, waste management, renewable energy, agriculture markets, climate resilience, and rigorous impact evaluations.

Sonia joined Athena in January 2023. Prior to this, she served as a project manager for the ADB-funded TESIRH and BETTS projects, where she worked in eight districts of Bangladesh. She was also a technology commercialization expert for the BMGF-funded “Upscaling Best Practices in Faridpur City for Urban Planning” project, where innovative technologies for fecal sludge management (FSM) were developed. Sonia was a market development expert for the USAID-funded “Development and Marketing Through Private Sector Partners of Jute Fibre Extraction Machine” project, which facilitated four local companies in four districts.

She developed the market assessment tool for the Water Hyacinth Floating Vegetable Garden in Tonle Sap Lake, Cambodia, funded by the Swiss Solidarity Tourism Foundation endowment and the Agence des Micro-Projets. Sonia also led the evaluation of NGO-led migration projects for donors such as FCDO and the World Bank.

Her academic background includes an MSc. in Economics from the Independent University of Bangladesh (IUB) and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from North South University (NSU). She has also published a paper entitled “Rural Entrepreneurship as a Coping Mechanism Among the Returnee Migrants: Reviewing the Potentials and Challenges” in The Journal of Small Business Strategy.