Raya Bidshahri

Raya Bidshahri is an Iranian educator and serial entrepreneur. She is the Founder and CEO of School of Humanity, an accredited online high school. She was named one of the BBC's 100 Womenfor 2019. There, she was a co-founder of Cafe Scientifique Dubai and a founding member of SciFest Dubai. When US President Donald Trump signed Executive Order 13780 on March 6, 2017, limiting visas for immigrants from Iran, Bidshahri decided it was too risky to begin a startup in Silicon Valley as she had planned. and has spoken at various international conferences.

School of Humanity In 2021, Bidshahri founded School of Humanity, an accredited online high school with interdisciplinary curriculum, which integrates pedagogies such as challenge-based and mastery-based learning. In June 2022, School of Humanity closed its seed round of funding from Singapore-based Education in Motion.

Awards and recognition In 2019, Bidshahri was named one of the BBC's 100 Women. In 2024, she was listed on the Forbes 30 under 30 Class of 2025 list, in the education category.