Noor Pahlavi

Noor Pahlavi belongs to a family whose name is inseparable from modern Iranian history: her grandfather was Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, and her grandmother is Farah Pahlavi, the former Empress.

Yet Pahlavi grew up far from Tehran. Educated in the United States, she graduated from Georgetown University with a degree in Psychology, a subject that continues to inform the way she thinks about power, trauma, identity and resilience. Now based in New York, she balances a professional career with an increasingly visible role as an advocate for the Iranian people, particularly women.

In recent years, as protests in Iran have drawn global attention, Noor Pahlavi has used her platform to amplify the voices of those inside the country. She is careful to distinguish between Iran — a nation with a long, rich cultural history — and the Islamic Republic that governs it. In interviews, she has argued that the current authorities do not represent the will of the people, and that it is vital the world listens directly to Iranians who are calling for change.

Her advocacy focuses particularly on women’s rights. She speaks plainly about the legal and social restrictions imposed on women in Iran, from limitations on travel and employment to unequal inheritance laws and the enforcement of compulsory dress codes. She has also addressed the stigma surrounding women’s health, inspired in part by her mother’s public discussion of her own experience with breast cancer.

As a speaker, Pahlavi is candid about the complexities of Iran’s history, clear about the realities facing its citizens today, and thoughtful about the role the international community can play. She serves on the Global Advisory Board of Acumen, the international non-profit founded by Jacqueline Novogratz. Acumen invests in entrepreneurs tackling poverty through sustainable enterprise, particularly in healthcare, agriculture and clean energy. Her contribution is particularly relevant to discussions on democracy, women’s rights, Middle Eastern geopolitics, diaspora leadership and the responsibilities that come with public platforms.