Raya Bidshahri is a serial education entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and award-winning educator. Raya is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the School of Humanity, a revolutionary online high school with a progressive model and skill-based curriculum. Raya serves as an advisory board member to multiple EdTech companies and is a member of the Bett Future Education Council. She has been sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker for over a decade – since the age of 16 – and brings a much-needed youth perspective to discussions about the future of education.
Raya Bidshahri is a serial entrepreneur, keynote speaker, and award-winning educator. She is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of School of Humanity, an online high school that offers a personalized curriculum centered around global challenges. Raya collaborates with public and private education providers globally to develop education systems that better serve the needs of today’s world.
School of Humanity is an award-winning online high school where learners develop their knowledge and skills by having a positive impact on the world. Licensed in the United States, the school is internationally accredited by the Western Association of Schools & Colleges. School of Humanity replaces exams with real-world projects and offers an interdisciplinary curriculum. With learners and alumni from over 30 countries across 5 continents, it is designed to be the High School for the World.
Originally from Iran, Raya grew up in Dubai and completed her degree in Neuroscience at Boston University. She then decided to pursue her mission of reimagining education.
Raya has spoken at more than 60 conferences in over 15 countries, including COP28, the World Government Summit, Expo 2020, EduTech Asia, the G20/Y20 Summit, the Global Education Forum, and the GESS Summit. She has been sharing her expertise as a keynote speaker for over 14 years, bringing a much-needed forward-looking perspective to discussions about the future of education.
Raya was the main award winner for the Next Generation Foresight Practioner’s Award, organized by the School of International Futures. Featured by the BBC as one of the most influential and inspiring women globally, Raya is a global thought leader on the future of education.