VANIShah*

Chapter Two · Systems

I build the structure that isn't there yet.

Regulatory research, venture, legislative policy, creative operations. The tracking frameworks I built at CLEAResult — covering a 22-state portfolio — were adopted into the company's global database and are still in use across regional teams.

About

Vani Shah headshot
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I studied International Relations and Global Studies at UT Austin with a focus in science, technology, and the environment. In practice that has meant walking into five organizations that had a problem no one had defined yet and leaving behind a system that outlasted me.

I work best in the gap between teams. Engineering and business development at CLEAResult. Policy and public communication at the Texas Capitol. Founders and investors at Wink.cloud. The common thread is translation: taking something that only makes sense to one group and making it legible, measurable, and actionable for everyone else.

I am based in Dallas and open to roles in strategy, operations, policy, and product.

Case Studies

Built the first single view of account health across a 22-state portfolio

CLEAResult, Regulatory Research and Business Development Intern, Engineering Team — June 2025 to January 2026

What was broken

CLEAResult ran utility efficiency programs across 22 states and Canada with no standardized way to compare them. Every client reported differently, so no one could say which accounts were healthy, which were at risk, and where to move resources.

What I built

I built a performance tracking framework covering [NUMBER] accounts, measuring net to gross ratios, net kWh savings, cost per kWh saved, demand goal attainment, and incentive budget utilization. While building it I found accounts whose cost per kWh was drifting toward the ceiling regulators allow under state cost effectiveness tests.

What changed

I presented the framework to the executive team. It was adopted into the company's global database and is now used by regional teams worldwide.

Made two teams that couldn't talk to each other solve the same problem

CLEAResult, Regulatory Research and Business Development Intern, Engineering Team — June 2025 to January 2026

What was broken

One of the firm's oldest utility clients had numbers falling fast and no one could explain why. Engineering and business development were both working on it separately and describing it in vocabulary the other side didn't use, so neither knew where the other had started.

What I built

I sat in on meetings, took notes on the terminology I didn't know, and built a working glossary between the two functions. Then I wrote the same problem twice, once in each team's language, so both could evaluate it on their own terms.

What changed

Those documents are still in circulation between the two departments, with new hires adding to them.

Turned stakeholder conversations into a vote count anyone could read

Office of Texas State Representative Mihaela Plesa, Legislative Policy Aide and Communications Intern — January to June 2025, 89th Texas Legislative Session

What was broken

A five-person staff supporting a bill load of 244 during a live session. Outreach was happening constantly and none of it was written down in a form that told you where a bill actually stood.

What I built

I built research packages and bill summaries for an assigned portfolio, and a structured outreach tracker that sorted every office into confirmed, undecided, or needs follow-up. I also ran the office's digital communications across platforms reaching over 10,000 followers.

What changed

Engagement rose 37% across the session, and the tracker turned a stream of conversations into a document leadership could act on in a glance.

Found the reason investors couldn't tell them apart

Wink.cloud, Investor Relations and Strategy Consultant — June to October 2024, Pre-Series A biometrics identity startup

What was broken

Wink.cloud was preparing to raise and was confident in its financial model. Reading it against the market, I saw the problem: the model was structured almost identically to several competitors already pitching investors. The differentiation existed but the presentation buried it.

What I built

I mapped seven biometrics firms against each other on positioning and financial model structure, then brought the executive team a side-by-side comparison with a specific recommendation on what to reframe.

What changed

Once they could see it laid next to the competitors, they agreed and rebuilt how it was presented to investors. People do not change their minds when you tell them they are wrong. They change their minds when you show them what you see in a format they can evaluate.

Built the applicant infrastructure for an invitation-only founder program

Secret Startup Series, Marketing Contributor — 2026 to present, DFW pre-seed and seed accelerator

What was broken

The first cohort ran on instinct. There was no system tracking who applied, who converted, or which sponsors were worth pursuing.

What I built

I built the master applicant tracker covering all applicants plus first cohort admits, moved the growth strategy from general hype to scarcity and hard numbers, and narrowed sponsor outreach to a short priority list instead of a broad one.

What changed

11 admits out of 68 applications. The system is now running the second cohort without being rebuilt.

Ran a nonprofit at 15 and rebuilt its entire model mid-pandemic

YoungGiving, Founder — 2017 to 2022

What was broken

We had committed to donating physical goods to orphanages abroad. COVID made shipping unviable and the campaign was already in motion.

What I built

I moved us to digital fundraising, which meant learning what actually drives someone to give. The answer was that people do not donate to causes, they donate to communities they already trust. So we built the following before we made the ask, through original content and consistent posting rather than a launch push.

What changed

We funded PPE kits distributed across India through an international partner, and built donor operations, inventory tracking, and volunteer logistics reaching 600+ beneficiaries across India and Morocco.

Built structured deal flow tracking for a venture firm

LiveOak Ventures, Venture Intern — June to October 2024

Built structured deal flow tracking systems and standardized diligence templates to organize founder pipelines and support investment evaluation across the Dallas ecosystem.

Capabilities

What I do

  • Data structuring and analysis
  • KPI and performance tracking
  • Cross-functional workflow design
  • Regulatory and policy research
  • Stakeholder coordination
  • Competitive and market analysis

Tools

  • Excel — pivot tables, modeling
  • Notion — databases, dashboards, linked systems
  • SQL and Python at working proficiency
  • Figma
  • Adobe Suite
  • Zapier
  • Claude, NotebookLM, Gamma

Languages

  • English
  • Spanish
  • Hindi
  • Urdu
  • Gujarati

If something on this page maps to a problem you are trying to solve, I want to hear about it.

vss559@utexas.edu