The Board of Trustees unanimously appointed Dr. Lida Rafia to fill the vacant position on the policy making body. The Board made the appointment at its March meeting.

“We are so excited to have Lida joining us in this new role! She brings such joy, hope and humanity, possibility, critical and creative thinking to our spaces and I am just thrilled to have her voice in our community,” said Dr. Kaleb Rashad, HTH Interim CEO.

The five-member Board is the governance and fiduciary authority for all HTH schools.

Dr. Rafia is a principal consultant with the JONES diversity and organizational change consulting firm. She is passionate about helping people, teams and organizations create cultural transformation through an equity and inclusion lens. She has over 12 years of experience in higher education with a focus on leading strategic change in community colleges in various leadership capacities that have included: program and curricula design, training and facilitation, strategic planning, and organizational development.

Born in Tehran, Iran, her family migrated between Iran and the United States throughout her youth. Growing up with one foot firmly planted in the American experience and the other immersed in her Iranian heritage, she was eventually able to reconcile the seemingly disparate cultures and embrace her identity as an Iranian-American.

Dr. Rafia previously served as Dean of Student Success and Equity at Grossmont College. In this role, she worked collaboratively to build consensus across constituency groups to advance student success, and foster an inclusive environment to positively impact policies, practices, and culture. She earned a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy from Portland State University and a Ph.D. in adult and higher education leadership from Oregon State University. She currently resides in San Diego with her partner and their son who attends High Tech Elementary Explorer.

As a current HTH parent, the commitment to equity in student learning is something that Dr. Rafia sees demonstrated every day. Teachers and staff get to know all students so that they can spend time cultivating undiscovered talents, instilling confidence, and building on students’ potential. Dr. Rafia and her family are invested in the HTH community because of the ways they have seen the teachers, staff, and parents connect in meaningful ways through student learning, exhibition, and student-led conferences.