Dr. Shabnam Koirala Azad is an educator, social justice scholar and practitioner, and academic leader whose work focuses on education and social transformation. Before joining the Wilmette Institute as Executive Director, she spent more than two decades at the University of San Francisco (USF), where she held faculty and leadership roles, including Department Chair and Dean of the School of Education.

Her scholarship and practice span education, human rights, global and comparative studies, and social change. At USF, she co-founded the university’s master’s program and doctoral concentration in Human Rights Education—the first programs of their kind in the United States.

Born and raised in Nepal and a fourth-generation educator, Dr. Koirala Azad earned a BA in Psychology and Education from Mount Holyoke College and a PhD in Social and Cultural Studies in Education from the University of California, Berkeley. She brings to the Wilmette Institute extensive experience in educational leadership and a longstanding commitment to advancing human flourishing and meaningful social transformation.