Bea Varnai has had a cross-disciplinary education, having studied at SciencesPo Paris, University of Sao Paulo in Brazil, Colegio de Mexico, the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Passionate about community-led development and participatory approaches, she specializes in sustainable urban development, citizen participation, the social and financial engineering of urban projects, and multi-stakeholder consultation.

Since 2013, Bea has worked on citizen initiatives, public policies, projects, and studies in a number of fields, including affordable housing, informal settlement and home upgrading, participatory urban planning and design, climate change adaptation in Africa (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Kenya), Central America (Nicaragua), South America (Peru, Brazil) and in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe.

Before joining Urbaconsulting as a project manager in 2022, Bea developed her career in the non-profit sector where she worked closely with local communities (at urbaMonde and urbaSEN and the city network FMDV). In addition to her field experience, she has worked on case and feasibility studies, research & development projects, and publications, all in collaboration with academic and professional networks, local authorities, and grassroots alliances.