ABOUT ME

Serena Sacks-Mandel is the worldwide chief technology and transformation officer at Microsoft for the education industry. Prior to joining Microsoft, she was the chief information officer at two unique technically advanced large public school districts where she enabled student-centric teaching and learning, which resulted in significant improvements in student outcomes.

Prior to pivoting to education, she led innovation and transformation teams at IBM, Walt Disney World, and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and provided management consulting at many others. Serena has won numerous state, national, and global awards for leadership, vision, technical excellence, and her commitment to supporting women in technology.

In her new book Empowered: Frame your Narative, Own your Power, Ms. Sacks-Mandel shares how we can all overcome both personal and professional challenges. By framing ourselves as the hero, not the victim of our stories and forgiving those who have harmed us, we free ourselves from the burden of carrying past pain. Taking responsibility for our narative enables us to own our power, choose our purpose, and define our own version of success. She believes that true power is the power to empower others. Her life story is rough and yet she finds the opportunity for humor, contribution, exhilaration and ultimately joy and serenity.

In her non-working time, Ms. Sacks-Mandel and her husband Scott are adventure seekers—biking, hiking, traveling, and boating, often with their three wonderful adult daughters.