Growing up in rural India, Rohini Sampoornam Swaminathan witnessed the devastation caused by cyclones and floods and the profound impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in under-prepared communities. These experiences shaped her perspective on humanitarian crises and the importance of using technology to understand them. She currently serves as the climate and environmental data unit lead at UNICEF Headquarters, focusing on implementing a Global Child Hazard Database, mapping children's current and future risks, that can be used by governments and NGOs across the world for emergency preparedness, planning, targeting, and advocacy efforts.

In the last decade, Rohini has worked with various United Nations agencies, mainly focusing on utilizing geospatial technology for large-scale disaster preparedness and response. She has been deployed to more than 40 countries - often in hard-to-reach areas. Previously, she led the geospatial unit of the World Food Program where her team responded to major global crisis including the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Syria and many natural hazards including the Turkey-Syria earthquake using advanced satellite-based impact analysis.

Before the UN, she oversaw five research teams at NASA DEVELOP, and at the age of 25, was one of the youngest to be appointed as a center lead. She successfully delivered social impact projects in Peru, Mexico, and Rwanda - where she mapped a forest corridor for gorillas to move about.

Two-time TEDx speaker, Rohini currently co-hosts GeoAI webinar with ITU's AI for Good, serves as one of the UNICEF representatives to the UN Geospatial Network and as an advisor to NASA Lifelines.