Reima Shakeir

Biography

Reima Shakeir joined New York University Stern School of Business as an Adjunct Assistant Professor in 2019. She joins the full-time faculty as a Clinical Assistant Professor of Management Communication in September 2025.

Shakeir is a multidisciplinary strategist, internationally recognized scholar, published author, and nonprofit executive. She brings clarity to complexity and breathes life into bold ideas at the intersection of communication, systems thinking, innovation and narrative power. She served as chief operating officer at the Edmond de Rothschild Foundations, where she led their flagship program, The Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship, at top business schools. She also served as chief executive officer of Women in Innovation and continues to advise early-stage ventures and coach senior executives across industries including tech, finance, health, and the arts.

Before joining NYU Stern, she served as associate director of the Wharton Communication Program at The Wharton School, where she taught MBA management communication and crisis communication, oversaw Wharton’s Investor Pitch Day, and coached PhD students on research communication. At NYU Stern, she teaches courses on Organizational Communication and Strategic Business Communication.

She began her career in multilingual publishing at age 17, eventually becoming a partner and later selling the business to expand into consulting. Her career spans five countries and multiple sectors, consistently focused on building inclusive, cross-cultural organizational systems and communities of belonging.

Following undergraduate work in English and Comparative Literature at Ain Shams University in Cairo, she earned an ALM in English from Harvard University Extension School, receiving both the Dean’s Academic Achievement Award and the Derek Bok Public Service Award. She earned her Doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Pennsylvania with double distinction. She also has completed executive training at the University of Cambridge (UK), ESSEC Business School (France), and Cornell University's Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Presentations

Shakeir, R. (2025). “Power and Presence.” University of Pennsylvania.

Shakeir, R. (2024). “Systemic Leadership for Equity and Humanization.” Loyola University.

Shakeir, R. & Ravitch, S. M. (2023). “Negotiating Your Worth.” Wharton Women in Business Conference.

Shakeir, R. & Ravitch, S. M. (2022). “Practice-Research: Collaborations for Social Change.” Robert Bosch Stiftung Annual Research Summit, Stuttgart, Germany.

Shakeir, R. (2021). “Research, Inquiry, and Being a Research Entrepreneur.” Invited Talk. Penn CLO Doctoral Program.

Shakeir, R. (2021). “Living into Complexity: Cross-Sector Partnerships for Educational Innovation.” Penn Research Team on Intersectional Identities in Schools.

Shakeir, R. (2021). “The Place of Belonging in Corporate and Educational Contexts.” Tata Trust and Tata Foundation, Mumbai, India.

Shakeir, R. (October 2020). “Pluralism in Curriculum, Pedagogy, and Evaluation: A Framework for Improving Girls’ Lives in India.” Dr. BMN College of Home Science, Mumbai, India.

Shakeir, R. (October 2020). “Media & Communications in Action: Spaces of Belonging.” Invited Lecture. London School of Economics.

Shakeir, R. (May 2019). “Women: Performing Femininity in the Public Space.” Cultural Studies Association Conference, Tulane University.

Shakeir, R. (2018). “The Others Are Coming: Immigrants and Media Representations.” Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship, Windsor Castle.

Shakeir, R. (2016). “Cross-Disciplinary Models: Looking at Business from a Social Science Lens.” Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship, Cambridge University.

Research Interests

• Strategic communication
• Crisis communication
• Entrepreneurship
• Adaptive leadership
• Women's lived experiences in the corporate world
• Organizational culture and change
• Gender studies

Courses Taught

• Business and Society
• Organizational Communication

Academic Background

BA, English and Comparative Literature
Ain Shams University

ALM, English
Harvard University Extension School

EdD, Higher Education and Management
University of Pennsylvania

Selected Publications

Andrews, C., & Shakeir, R. (2023)
“Conceptualizing Passion as an Entrepreneurial Pathway.” The Palgrave Handbook of Fulfillment, Wellness, and Personal Growth at Work,
Palgrave Macmillan.

Shakeir, R., Odendaal, R.T., & Rosado-Viurques, A.T. (2021)
Reimagining Educational Mindsets.
Teachers College Press.

Shakeir, R., Ravitch, S. M., & Rukh Rahman, G. (2021)
Case Studies of Frontier Philanthropies in the Global South.
Edmond de Rothschild Foundation.

Shakeir, R. & Ravitch, S. M. (2020)
Case Studies of Global South Frontier Philanthropy: Transforming Lives, Communities, and Nations.
White Paper.

Shakeir,R. and Ravitch, S.M. (2020)
Participatory Methods for Teacher Education and Mental Health Online in COVID-19.
Ministry of Tribal Education, Maharashtra.

Shakeir,R. (2019)
An Um Kulthumist Lens: An Examination of Arab American Women and the Lived Experience of Higher Education and the Public Space.
Dissertation, University of Pennsylvania.

Shakeir, R. (2018)
The Art of Powerful Collaborations: Humanity Rise!
Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship Blog

Shakeir, R. & Khaduthodil.J.
Arab American Women: Identity and Intersectionality.
Bloomsbury Press.

Shakeir, R.
The Belonging Imaginarium as a Way Forward: Social Impact Possibilities for Educational Entrepreneurs and Those Who Teach Them.
Sage MethodSpace.