Farhad Asghar is a program officer with the Corporation’s Education program, where he manages the Pathways to Postsecondary Success portfolio. Asghar oversees grantmaking that supports practices and policies aimed at creating flexible pathways for students throughout their K–16 education with the goal of college completion and preparing students for work and careers.
Asghar brings to his role at the Corporation a history of managing direct service programs, strategic partnerships, and fundraising initiatives in institutions of higher education, large nonprofits, and community-based organizations. He recently served as the executive director of Community Partnerships for the College Board's Access to Opportunity program. Prior to that, he was the associate vice president for development and external relations, and the associate dean of Bank Street College of Education. Asghar also served as the director of Liberty LEADS, a highly successful college access program, and he taught English in a public high school in Brooklyn.
Asghar holds a BA in English literature and secondary education from City University of New York’s Brooklyn College and a Master of Public Administration from New York University’s Wagner School of Public Service. He serves on the board of Barbershop Books, a national literacy organization that inspires Black boys and other children to read for fun through child-centered, culturally responsive, and community-based programming and content. He also serves on the board of Coalition for Asian American Children and Families (CACF), the nation’s only pan-Asian children and families’ advocacy organization bringing together community-based organizations as well as youth and community allies. Asghar is a naturalized U.S. citizen who moved from Pakistan to Queens, New York, as a child with his family.
