Reza Khastou was born and grew up in Tehran, Iran. After receiving his degree in Political Science in Iran he moved to the U.S. and received his master’s degree in education from Eastern Washington University. He has been working with high school students as a teacher, advisor, and administrator for more than 30 years.

Reza is the founder and director of Bright Future Program, a program that uses Running Start funding to allow high school students to access workforce education training at Seattle Vocational Institute (SVI) and to earn industry certificates that also satisfy high school graduation requirements. Bright Future has 19 years of success and student performance data that exceeds completion rates for both colleges and high school graduations. He simultaneously served as director of SVI’s Adult Basic Education and Transitional Studies. Both Mr. Khastou and his Bright Future program have received multiple awards, including a Golden Apple and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education Scaling for Excellence program.

Reza is an advisor to the Board of Bright Future Dollars for Scholars, a member of Governor’s Health Workforce Diversity Advisory Committee, a board member of 501 Commons, Literacy Source, and Washington’s Council of Basic Skills.