Pardis Mahdavi is a highly acclaimed author, educator, and entrepreneur. She has published seven non-fiction books and two edited volumes. She earned a BA from Occidental College, and two masters and a PhD from Columbia University. She is the author of the internationally heralded Book of Queens: The True Story of the Middle Eastern Horsewomen Who Fought the War on Terror (Hachette Books 2023), Riding (Duke University Press, 2024), Hyphen (Bloomsbury 2021), Crossing the Gulf: Love and Family in Migrant Lives (Stanford University Press, 2016), From Trafficking to Terror (Routledge, 2016), Gridlock: Labor, Migration and Human Trafficking in Dubai (Stanford University Press, 2011) and Passionate Uprisings: Iran’s Sexual Revolution (Stanford University Press, 2008).
Her work has appeared in, among others, Time, Ms. Magazine, Huffington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the Washington Post. Mahdavi is an expert on human rights and education policy and is widely known as an education futurist. Before stepping down from academia to found Entheon Journeys, she served as President at the University of La Verne, Provost and Executive Vice President at the University of Montana, as well as Dean at Arizona State University and the University of Denver after serving in multiple roles at Pomona College. She is a lifetime member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Young President’s Organization and has been a fellow at the Social Sciences Research Council, the American Council on Learned Societies, Google Ideas, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. Mahdavi is on the board of directors for the Lumina Foundation, the Human Trafficking Legal Center, and the Global Religion Advisory Board. She has recently co-founded MyUni, the world’s first AI-native university to provide accessible, affordable credentials to students around the world and is Executive Director of the Executive Leadership Academy at UC Berkeley.
Pardis currently lives in Arizona where she is working on her debut novel, HorsePower, a young adult novel about awakening through exposing the limitations of the education and other systems. When not writing, coaching, or giving keynotes, you can find her traveling, or spending time with her family.
Signature Talks
How AI, Gen Alpha, and Bold Leadership Are Reinventing Education
The next generation won’t inherit yesterday’s systems, they’ll build new ones. In this signature keynote, Dr. Pardis Mahdavi draws on more than two decades inside higher education—as a university president, provost, and dean to show how AI, the arrival of Gen Alpha, and courageous leadership are converging to remake how we teach, learn, and lead. A Columbia-trained scholar and author of seven books, she moves past the fear-driven noise around AI toward a clear-eyed, deeply human vision of what comes next naming the anxieties honestly, then reframing them as an invitation to design education for the learners actually in front of us. Audiences leave equipped, adaptable, and above all, emboldened.
- Understand how AI is reshaping learning and leadership.
- Prepare Gen Alpha for an unpredictable future.
- Build future-ready skills that technology cannot replace.
- Lead innovation with confidence and adaptability.
- Create learning environments that inspire lifelong growth.
Education as the Catalyst for Social Transformation
Education is more than knowledge. It’s one of the most powerful forces we have for meaningful change. Drawing on more than two decades leading and reshaping institutions—as a university president, provost, and dean Dr. Pardis Mahdavi shows how education can lift individuals, strengthen communities, and drive lasting social impact. A Columbia-trained scholar and author of seven books whose work spans human rights, migration, and public health, she connects the classroom to the wider world, revealing how learning becomes a bridge to opportunity, equity, and civic engagement. With hard-won stories from the front lines of higher education, Mahdavi challenges audiences to see education not as a system to maintain, but as a catalyst to wield and leaves them ready to do exactly that.
- Use education as a tool for social transformation.
- Foster inclusive and equitable learning environments.
- Turn challenges into opportunities for innovation.
- Lead with purpose and global awareness.
- Inspire the next generation of changemakers.
Leading with AI, Purpose, and Global Perspective
As AI transforms every industry, the greatest competitive advantage that remains is our humanity. Drawing on more than two decades leading institutions as a university president, provost, and dean and a global career spanning human rights, migration, and public health, Dr. Pardis Mahdavi shows how the strongest leaders pair emerging technology with empathy, ethics, and vision. A Columbia-trained scholar and author of seven books, she moves past the hype and the fear to a grounded question: not what AI can do, but what we should do with it. Blending sharp insight with stories from the front lines of change, Mahdavi equips leaders to navigate disruption with clarity, conscience, and courage informed by technology, but guided by purpose.
- Balance AI innovation with human-centered leadership.
- Navigate rapid technological and societal change.
- Make ethical decisions in an AI-driven world.
- Strengthen resilience in times of disruption.
- Lead with purpose in an increasingly connected world.
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