Dr. Sinella Aghasi
Executive Director of the Louisiana Old Governor’s Mansion, and proud CHANGEMAKERS Alumna.
She is a graduate of Louisiana State University where she received her doctorate in Musical Arts and non-profit management. Sinella was born and raised in Tehran, Iran and migrated to the United States when she was 18. She moved to Baton Rouge in 2016 when she began her doctoral studies at LSU and has since made it home. She is deeply committed to the Baton Rouge community and specifically the children of our city.
“Education has always been my thing, especially arts education,” she explained. “All the roles that I have had expanded on providing those programs, whether it’s with after school organizations or music and arts programs, and in my current role now. A very big part of my goals for our immediate future is to expand our educational offerings for K-12 students in the area.”
Already having a hunger for educational advocacy, Sinella was excited when she first heard about the CHANGEMAKERS program. Being relatively new to the area, she sought ways to get involved in the community and help implement the change she knew was needed and possible for our city. In 2021, she was selected for Cohort IV of the program and recalls her favorite moment in the program as the City Visit to Atlanta.
“What I gained the most out of the CHANGEMAKERS program is that it just gave me another lens, another depth of understanding of how to prioritize the students, the schools, and to ensure the services we provide to students are equitable. I think another aspect of that is better understanding of policy and how to follow it.”
Sinella says that since her involvement in the program she tries to attend as many school board meetings as possible, whether virtually or in person.
She says that her biggest hope for the students in our city is having equitable access to anything that can help them be successful long term. “Education is definitely the first stepping stone in the livelihood of a person. When we think about K-12 education, some people think about students as kids, but I think of them as the people that I will be working with in a decade. So how are they going to be affecting my community and the institutions that I interact with everyday?”
In her strive to continue the conversation about educational access in the city, she encourages more people to become involved in these discussions even if they aren’t parents.
Sinella serves on several boards including: Louisiana America 250, Dream Teachers, Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Foundation, and Leadership Baton Rouge Alumni. She is a 2025 Panelist at Business Report’s Women’s Leadership Symposium and currently a member of the Louisiana Tourism Leadership Academy 2025.
If you are interested in learning more about Dr Sinella Aghasi follow her on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/aghasimoshabadsinella/
Faces of the Alliance:
Community of impact
The strength of any community lies in its people—the stories, the diverse perspectives, and our shared triumphs. Faces of the Alliance from the Baton Rouge Alliance for Students, is a new initiative dedicated to shining a light on the individuals and organizations who make up what we call our Alliance family. Through personal narratives and video interviews, highlighting their contributions and experiences, we aim to celebrate the passion and resilience of those working toward a common goal – unlocking each child’s potential through education.
Why Faces of the Alliance? Because every person has a story, and every story has the power to inspire change. Whether it’s a parent advocating for their child, an elected official or CHANGEMAKER guiding the way forward, or a local volunteer doing the hard work on the ground with students and families, these stories deserve to be told. Our goal is to amplify the voices who make the Alliance what it is; they are essential to the progress we strive for in our city.
Each feature will offer a glimpse into the motivations, challenges, and successes of the people who define our movement. We hope these stories will not only inform and uplift but also encourage others to get involved and make an impact.
This is just the beginning. Join us as we introduce you to the Faces of the Alliance—because change starts with people, and people are at the heart of everything we do.
Stay tuned for our first profile as we celebrate the role we all play in ensuring every child in our community is well-educated.
“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.”- Mother Teresa