Dr. Lida Rafia is a JONES Principal Consultant who is passionate about helping people, teams and organizations create cultural transformation through an equity and inclusion lens. She has over twelve 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 High Explorer.

As a current High Tech High parent, the commitment to equity in student learning is something that Lida 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. Lida 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.