Educator | Systems Builder | Author

Rochelle Prasad

Teacher by training, systems builder by nature, Rochelle Prasad works across education, policy, and the future of work.

Over the past decade, she has focused on turning education into something more than access, into real influence and opportunity. She founded SPARK Foundation as a teenager to reduce barriers to education and leadership. What began as a high school initiative now reaches more than 500,000 young people globally through leadership programs, scholarships, and workforce development initiatives.

Her work has included building schools in Kenya and Ecuador and partnering with governments and multilateral institutions to expand access to education and strengthen youth pathways into leadership and employment.

That work led her into global policy spaces. Today, Rochelle works with governments and within the United Nations system on education, youth representation, and workforce development, including initiatives connected to Canada and Fiji.

She has taught at UC Berkeley and University Canada West, designed postsecondary curriculum across political science and social impact fields, and trained more than 300 educators.

More recently, her work has focused on how education systems are evolving alongside AI, and what it means to prepare young people for a rapidly changing workforce.

Rochelle is also an author, and her work is grounded in a simple idea: young people should not just be included in conversations, but trusted with real decision making power.

She has been recognized as a Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree and is a recipient of the Governor General’s Award in Commemoration of the Persons Case, RBC’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women in Canada, the UN Young Leader of the Year Award, and The Diana Award.

Rochelle believes: at its best, education does not just prepare young people for the future, it gives them the power to shape it.

about.

Rochelle's Story!

Rochelle has spent her career designing learning experiences that unlock potential - from K–12 and university classrooms across Fiji, Ecuador, Kenya, and Canada to global stages at the United Nations. Her work connects education, policy, and real-world impact, grounded in the belief that learning can open doors to opportunity.

Whether she is teaching students, advising governments, or building youth-focused programs, Rochelle is guided by a simple question: how can learning be made more meaningful, more equitable, and more connected to the realities young people are stepping into?