Iraqi schools need more than AI
Sara Salahaddin Mustafa is the Founder of CONNECTED MENA, where she is advancing AI literacy and future-ready education across Iraq and the wider Middle East. A graduate of Harvard Kennedy School and the first Iraqi recipient of Harvard University’s Middle East and North Africa Fellowship, she brings more than a decade of leadership experience spanning education, governance, and social impact. She is also a graduate of leadership programs offered by the US Department of State and the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, and is a Young Leader at the Forum for World Education. She has held governance roles on the boards of several higher education institutions in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Through CONNECTED MENA, Sara works at the intersection of artificial intelligence, education, and policy, leading initiatives that advance AI literacy and develop future-ready learning programs for educational institutions, educators, and learners across the region.