HADI PIR

Ph.D. in Educational Studies, specializing in Teaching, Curriculum, and Learning. Five years of experience teaching at the high school level and four years at the university level in the US. Areas of interest include teacher education, curriculum development, educational foundations, multicultural and multilingual education, comparative and international education, and educational policy. Possesses ten years of experience in nonprofit, advocacy, and human rights sectors. Fluent in English, Arabic, and Kurdish.

• Nebraska Teaching Certificate, grades 9 to 12
• Iraqi Teaching Certificate, ESL K to 12

• Catalano, T., Traore Moundiba, H., C. & Pir, H. (2019). "I felt valued": Multilingual microteachings and the development of teacher agency in a teacher education classroom.
• Catalano, T., Malgoubri, I., Shende, M., Ganesan, U., & Pir, H. (in process). Supporting our multilingual, transnational children and their home languages: Parent perspectives. Language, Identity and Education.
• Pir, Hadi T (2024) Iraqi Education Past and Present: The Role of Policymakers and Their Educational Background
• Iraqi Language Policy and Practice Predicament (Under review)

• Panelist at UCLA, "The Global Refugee Crisis: A View from the Ground." October 26, 2016
• Organizer Yazda and UNL's Forsythe Family Program on Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs present "Local Heros: Four Yazidi Leaders Share the Harrowing Story How They Mobilized from Lincoln, NE to Fight Genocide in Sinjar, Iraq." October 2019
• Presenter and Panelist at UNL, TLTE, "Language, Migration and Education Conference: Cultivating Linguistic and Cultural Diversity." September 2023.
• Participant and organizer at US Department of State, "Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom." June 2019
• Presenter at The MacMillan Center | - Yale University (Yale Council on Middle East Studies) "Annual Summer Institute for Teachers." June 2021
• Organizer of Amal Clooney's visit to Yazda and Yazidi Community in Lincoln, NE. May 2023
• Panelist at Global Center for Responsibility to Protect, "Cultural Heritage and Mass Atrocities: Crimes Against Yazidis and Uyghurs." March 2021
• Organizer of UNO, Nobody's Listening, an Award-Winning VR Experience and Immersive Exhibit, December 2022

• New Yorker: The Daring Plan to Save a Religious Minority from ISIS
• Washington Times: Remembering the Yazidis under siege by Hadi Pir
• Wall Street Journal: Trump's Syria Exit Puts Yazidis in Peril by Hadi Pir
• Journal Star: Only Education Can Heal Us" by Hadi Pir
• The National News: From bullets to textbooks - meet the Iraq War interpreter rebuilding in America's Midwest.
• News.unl.edu: Yazidi advocate takes unlikely path to Husker master's degree
• Daily Nebraskan: UNL master's student preparing to graduate advocates for persecuted Yazidi
• Journal Star: Lincoln Yazidis say U.S. efforts have saved 'tens of thousands
• Journal Star: Family of a Fallen Yazidi Interpreter Finally Finds Hope and Safety in Lincoln
• Star and Stripes: Family of KIA Iraqi interpreter celebrates first Christmas in America
• NPR: Yazidi Advocate Reacts To ISIS Leader's Death, NPR
• Kurdistan in America: "Interview with Mr. Hadi Pir, Vice-President of Yazda."

• Lives Shattered Across the Mountain Rock (A novel. In process)
• Yazda & Justice Rapid Response, "Robbed of their Childhood and Still No Justice: The Voices of Yazidi Children at the Heart of Child-Centered Documentation, Investigation, and Prosecution Processes." July 2023
• Yazda, the Zovigian Partnership, Wilson Center, & Middle East Program. "We cannot return Part 1: Collapsed security threatens the future of Yazidis & minorities in Sinjar." September 2022.
• Yazda, IOM, Australian Government. "Position Paper on an ISIL Accountability Mechanism in Iraq." March 2021
• Yazda (sponsored by IOM and the Australian Government). "Mapping the Yazidi Diaspora in Australia: The International Organization Migration & Yazda Iraq on supporting stability & sustainable returns in Ninawa." January 2022.
• Yazda & Free Yazidi Foundation. "ISIL: Nationals of ICC states parties committing genocide and other crimes against the Yazidis." September 2015. This was a case submitted to the ICC for the crimes committed against the Yazidis by ISIS
• Yazda. "From Resistance to Rubble: The Stories of Ger Zarik, Siba Sheikh-Kheder and Tel Azer." August 2023

Co-founder and a board member of Yazda (an International Organization)
August 2014 - 2024

Co-Founder of Nadia Murad's Campaign (2018 Nobel Peace Prize Winner)
August 2016 - 2019

Co-Founder, Yazda-Yazidi Cultural Center March 2017, Lincoln, NE

AmeriCorps Member (Center for People in Need) August 2012 - August 2014, Lincoln, NE

• Recipient of the UNL 2021 Student Luminary Award.
• Selected by the Obama Foundation and Columbia University as one of 400 individuals to document the oral history of President Obama's administration.
• Featured in a 2018 New Yorker article for efforts to protect minorities from the Islamic State.
• Hired as a consultant by Yale University's Jackson School of Global Affairs for the Undergraduate Capstone on Genocide (2020 & 2022).
• Collaborates with film producer Scott LaStaiti and Shriners Hospitals for Children to provide life-saving surgeries to Iraqi children.