Sabba Quidwai, Ed.D., wants to live in a world driven by empathy. Her mission is to work with education organizations to use design thinking to create cultures of innovation that begin with cultures of empathy, and to design learning spaces that create passionate and curious lifelong learners ready to tackle the challenges and embrace the opportunities today’s world has to offer. As a doctoral student in the Global Executive Ed.D. program at the University of Southern California (USC), her research focus was on how design thinking can be used to redesign education organizations to prepare K-12 students for The Second Machine Age, The Fourth Industrial Revolution, or anything else we call it – aka the future – which is NOW.

Her work is driven by a quote from William Gibson: “The future is here. It just isn’t evenly distributed.” Quidwai asks, “How might we design more equitable learning environments so that everyone has the skill set and mindset to thrive in a changing world?” As a keynote speaker, Quidwai often talks about how organizations can build a culture of innovation through a culture of empathy. When thinking about the next generation, she discusses whether we’re creating students who will apply for jobs or students who will create their own. By “create their own,” she doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone should become an entrepreneur, rather that everyone has the mindset and skill set to thrive in rapidly changing times. Her passion for reimagining organizations to design new practices, experiences, and environments to meet the demands of today’s world impacted her teaching at Fairmont Private Schools where she led a 1:1 technology-enhanced curriculum initiative.