About Mayra
Mayra Gazel is a researcher, educator, and social entrepreneur.
She is a Teaching Fellow at Harvard University in the Human Development and Education Entrepreneurship programmes, and an Associate Instructor at Columbia University in International Non-Governmental Organizations. She is also a case writer for Harvard Business School's Family Business Unit.
Alongside her higher education work, Mayra serves as a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research on Men and Boys, where she examines how financial literacy, early childhood development, and family systems shape the ways people learn about and engage with money.
Her work in financial education is equally hands-on, as the founder of an organisation that equips the next generation from wealth-holding families with the financial fluency, judgment, and confidence to navigate their financial futures. Before that, she founded a nonprofit at eighteen dedicated to teaching young people personal safety skills, leading it for eight years.
Mayra holds an EdM in Education Leadership, Organizations, and Entrepreneurship with a concentration in Early Childhood from Harvard University, and an MS in Nonprofit Management from Columbia University. She is also trained in Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Self-Defense Instruction, Applied Suicide Intervention, Youth Mental Health First Aid, and Blast and Trauma First Aid. She speaks English, Turkish, French, Spanish, and Italian, and is currently learning Russian.