Arvind Nagarajan
Founder and CEO
Astra
Arvind Nagarajan is the founder of Astra, a transformative model of secondary education that integrates AI-driven innovation, leadership development, and personalized learning to equip students for the future. With over a decade of experience as an education investor and operator, Arvind has shaped the global education landscape by building and scaling private school networks across North America, Asia, and Africa. As the former Managing Director for the USA region at the International Schools Partnership (ISP), he deployed over $200 million to develop a portfolio of K-12 schools now valued at over $1 billion, impacting thousands of students and educators globally. Arvind’s passion for education began during his time at Yale (BA) and MIT Sloan (MBA), and deepened through his work at Pearson Ventures, where he led investments across India and Latin America and co-authored The Inner Workings of Affordable Private Schools, a guide for entrepreneurs and investors in the sector. For Arvind, Astra is more than a professional pursuit—it’s personal. As a father of two daughters, he believes education must nurture audacity, agency, and adaptability. His vision is to build schools that unleash the potential of every child and set a new standard for the future of learning in the AI era.