Dina Khuffash has spent 25 years in education, and she still remembers hating school as a student. She opens up about being diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, growing up in Jordanian public schools, and how she ended up delivering aid to wounded refugees during the Second Intifada as a 22-year-old with no plan at all, only to be pulled back into education again and again, almost against her own will.

Now General Manager of New Century Education, overseeing eight charter schools and more than 8,000 students across Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, she talks about what it means to treat every student as her own child, why she refuses to place blame on any single part of a broken system, and why she believes rebuilding basic morality, not curriculum, is the real work ahead.

This is a conversation about showing up for people who aren't yours to show up for.We hope you find something to consider.

00:00 — Intro: Education as a mirror of society

02:00 — Her own story: hating school, discovering ADHD, and a career she never chose

11:40 — Volunteering during the Second Intifada, building an aid network at 22

22:00 — Why teachers are undervalued, and the outsized influence they carry

28:00 — Leading school transformation in the UAE, from inspections to charter schools

39:55 — Morality over curriculum, and why "these are my children"

Connect with the Guest:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dinakhuffash/?hl=en

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dina-khuffash/

Website: https://khuffash.me