Shaheen grew up in 5 countries around the world, and returned to India when she was 18 to start a small college project, which grew into Akanksha. For 17 years, she worked with teachers and students, building Akanksha to provide children from low-income communities the kind of education that would maximize their greatest potential. In 2008, Shaheen founded Teach For India, with an audacious vision of providing an excellent education to all children across India through building a pipeline of leaders committed to ending educational inequity in India. Shaheen is an Ashoka Fellow, a Global Leader for Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum, and an Asia Society 21 Leader. She serves on the boards of Akanksha, Design For Change, the India School Leaders Institute, the Thermax Foundation, and Teach For All. Shaheen is the author of the book, "Re-drawing India". She has a Bachelor’s degree from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai and a Master’s Degree from the University of Manchester.