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H.E. Rangina Hamidi

Former Minister of Education, Afghanistan and Professor of Practice, Thunderbird School of Global Management
Rangina Hamidi is an Afghan American writer, educator, social entrepreneur, and politician who served as Afghanistan’s minister of education until August 2021. She was the first cabinet-level, female minister of education to hold that position in thirty years. Ms. Hamidi works tirelessly to advocate for women’s rights by empowering girls and women through social entrepreneurship and education initiatives to build their lives.

Ms. Hamidi is well-versed in pedagogy, child development, and psychology and led the Mezan International School, a private institution, as its first principal. The school’s progressive international curriculum garnered praise for its solid foundation of Islamic education, Afghan values and history studies. These accomplishments led the president of Afghanistan to ask her to bring her innovative approach to education as education minister. Currently, Ms. Hamidi is a professor of practice with Thunderbird School of Global Management at Arizona State University and resides in Dubai, UAE.

She has contributed to numerous publications, radio programs and podcasts. Ms. Hamidi has co-authored “Embroidering within Boundaries: Afghan Women Creating a Future," which takes the reader on a pictorial journey into the stories of the courageous Afghan women she continues to serve.