Suhaimi Zainal Shah

Strategic Leadership | Social Innovation | Educational Technology | Youth Development

United Kingdom

About

Many view education as a stairway to social mobility—a climb requiring immense individual energy. I view it as an escalator: a systemic, structural enabler powered by technology and targeted policy. For over a decade, my career has been dedicated to designing, managing, and evaluating the mechanics of that escalator. My focus bridges the gap between grassroots social impact and macro-level government strategy. Anchored by 10 years of public and people sector management in Singapore, including a secondment driving localised equity initiatives at Tasek Academy, I understand how to translate high-level mandates into tangible community outcomes. Currently completing my MSc in International Social and Public Policy at the LSE, I am upgrading my toolkit to scale these outcomes globally. My academic and project portfolio spans: +Strategic Evaluation: Utilizing Difference-in-Differences (DiD) methodologies and large-N panel datasets (TIMSS) to measure how macro-policy shocks impact educational equity in rapidly transforming regions like the UAE and Qatar. +Global Coordination: Managing cross-border initiatives, including mapping ASEAN AI Governance frameworks and coordinating the Pakistan 2047 economic roadmap at LSE IDEAS. +Behavioural Public Policy: Advocating for s-frame (systemic) interventions over isolated i-frame nudges to create sustainable, system-wide social mobility. I firmly believe impactful leadership requires a balance of "High-Tech" and "High-Touch" skills. I combine data analytics, EdTech, and AI governance with human-centered design and a deep commitment to environmental sustainability (ESR). Having engaged with diverse ecosystems across many countries, I know that contextual, evidence-based policy is the only way forward. I am currently connecting with multilateral organisations, global think tanks, and public sector consultancies for 2027, seeking senior advisory and managerial roles where I can architect and address the structural policies that drive global equity.

Experience