Harvard and MIT Launch Education Nonprofit Using Proceeds From edX Sale, Tap Stephanie Khurana as CEO

Stephanie R. Khurana will serve as chief executive officer of Axim Collaborative, a new nonprofit launched by Harvard University and MIT, the organization announced in a press release Thursday morning.

Axim Collaborative, previously known as the Center for Reimagining Learning, is a nonprofit created by the two universities using proceeds from their sale of the jointly owned education platform edX. An online learning initiative started by Harvard and MIT in 2012, edX was sold to Maryland-based tech startup 2U, Inc. for $800 million in 2021.

Axim aims to make learning more accessible, effective, and engaging by building on edX’s “commitment to educational equity,” according to the press release. The nonprofit will focus initial efforts on supporting post-secondary education for underserved groups.

Khurana, who will assume her role on April 3, said in the release that she is “excited to take on this opportunity to help learners realize their educational and career aspirations.”

“We have unique potential using Axim’s resources and capabilities to catalyze efforts that will make a difference of a lifetime for so many people,” she said.

Khurana has served as managing partner and chief operating officer of the Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation, a global venture philanthropy firm, and on the boards of several education equity organizations including Generation, Propel America, and Empower Schools.

Khurana served as faculty dean of Cabot House from 2010 to 2020 with her husband, Rakesh Khurana, who was appointed dean of the College in 2014. She has also been involved with several University-wide initiatives, including the Presidential Task Force on Inclusion and Belonging and the Presidential PK-12 Task Force.

University Provost Alan M. Garber ’76, who will serve as co-chair of Axim’s board of trustees, said in the press release that he was “delighted” to have Khurana as the first CEO of Axim.

“With her years of dedication to advancing educational equity, along with experience in leveraging technology to promote access to higher education, Stephanie is the right person to work with the communities that share our vision to shape and implement the agenda for this exciting endeavor,” he said.

In addition to Garber, several other top Harvard administrators sit on Axim’s board, including Executive Vice President Meredith L. Weenick ’90, Vice Provost for Advances in Learning Bharat N. Anand ’88, and Graduate School of Education Dean Bridget Terry Long.

MIT Provost Cynthia Barnhart, who will also serve as a co-chair of Axim’s board, said in the release that Axim “will require collaboration with a diverse set of partner organizations” to pursue its mission.

“Stephanie is an ideal leader to build on the non-profit’s early work to understand how we can add value to a mature landscape of committed researchers and organizations,” Barnhart said.

—Staff writer Miles J. Herszenhorn can be reached at miles.herszenhorn@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @MHerszenhorn.

—Staff writer Claire Yuan can be reached at claire.yuan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on Twitter @claireyuan33