Pasi Sahlberg is a professor of education policy and research director at the Gonski Institute for Education, University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia. He is a Finnish educator and author who has worked as a schoolteacher, teacher-educator, researcher, and policy advisor in Finland and has studied education systems, analyzed education policies, and advised education reforms around the world. He held several leadership and expert posts at the Ministry of Education in Finland. He has worked as Senior Education Specialist at the World Bank, Lead Education Specialist at the European Commission, and visiting professor at Harvard University.

Pasi is recipient of the 2013 Grawemeyer Award in the U.S., the 2014 Robert Owen Award in Scotland, the 2016 Lego Prize in Denmark, and Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Resident Fellowship in 2017 in Italy. He is a member of the International Council of Education Advisors (ICEA) for the Scottish First Minister, a member of the Advisory Board for the Centre for International Education Benchmarking, and advisor to the Mayor of the City of Reykjavik.

He gained working knowledge in over 60 countries around the world and is a former senior education specialist at the World Bank in Washington, DC, lead education specialist at the European Training Foundation, director general of the Ministry of Education in Finland, and a visiting professor at Harvard University.

Pasi's most recent books include "Finnish Lessons: What can the world learn from educational change in Finland" (2015), "FinnishED Leadership: Four big, inexpensive ideas to transform education" (2018), and "Let the Children Play! Why more play helps schools and children thrive" (with William Doyle, 2019).