Paitra Houts

Paitra Houts is a dedicated connector, bridging community members, non-profits, schools and Stanford members to build lasting reciprocal partnerships. As the Director of Community Engaged Learning focused on Education she works with faculty and community partners to design courses that address a societal need, preparing students to work with community, and helping partners navigate Stanford’s many resources. Additionally, she is the Haas Center’s co-facilitator of the Colleagues for Racial Justice and is co-designing a curriculum on positionality for students going off campus.

Paitra found her passion for education equity in high school when she worked with the Bay Area Coalition for Equitable Schools (now the National Equity Project). She deepened this commitment in college where she got her Bachelors of Arts in Sociology and Planning Public Policies and Management from the University of Oregon while interning with the Springfield County office of Education. She completed her Master’s in Policy, Organization, and Leadership Studies from Stanford's Graduate School of Education and worked for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula running a K-8 after school program and leading their volunteer and partnerships programming.

Today, Paitra serves on the Thrive Alliance Board and is a member of Leadership Council San Mateo’s 2023 Leadership Corps where she is engaging with cross-sector leaders to “positively transform San Mateo County and find solutions for the biggest issues facing our county”. To keep in alignment, she finds time to meditate, stay active, cook, learning about the games industry from her husband, and play, read and swim with her kids.