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Driving university innovation, youth engagement, and climate action through strategic partnerships and experiential learning.
Zoya Zaitseva is an international education innovator and sustainability advocate driving impact at the intersection of higher education, youth empowerment, and sustainability action. As Innovation Manager at QS Quacquarelli Symonds, the organization behind the QS World University Rankings®, she leads initiatives that connect universities and industry to advance innovation and global reputation. With over 20 years of experience in international education, global partnerships, and reputation management, Zoya is known for building impactful collaborations that bridge educators, youth and industry around shared goals of innovation, sustainability, and global citizenship.
After more than a decade leading QS’s growth across Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where she championed global engagement of regional universities, Zoya now drives QS’s experiential learning agenda, focusing on sustainability and responsible AI dimensions, developing transformative initiatives that link education, employability, and social impact.
Working directly with Nunzio Quacquarelli, Founder and President of QS, Zoya leads the Future17 SDG Challenge - an experiential learning program matching students across all continents with projects from companies and global organizations to tackle real-life sustainability challenges, aligned with the UN SDGs. Responsible AI Consortium, a global network of innovative institutions committed to driving responsible AI integration into Higher Education, is another project Zoya drives forward.
As Head of Partnerships at QS ImpACT Charity, the global SDG incubator for youth, Zoya oversees the QS ImpACT Scholarships (formerly the QS Scholarship Trust, established in 2003), expanding access to higher education and nurturing future changemakers. Zoya’s expertise and network is particularly aligned with charity’s annual Skills Challenges on “AI for Impact” and “Games for Good”.
A Co-Chair of the PRME Working Group on Climate Change & Environment, she also drives the Climate Literacy & Action Training, a Reimagine Education Award-winning program equipping educators and institutions with tools to drive climate action.
Zoya is a passionate speaker and change agent, committed to shaping a more sustainable and climate-literate future through education and cross-sector collaboration.