Chief Penguin, IBM Z @ IBM
As IBM Z’s Chief Penguin, Dr. Melissa Sassi created her own IBM job title and is the Founder & Global Head of IBM Hyper Protect Accelerator where she focuses on empowering early-stage startups to build, scale, and thrive.
Prior to IBM, Dr. Sassi was an impact investor at Microsoft focused on building and scaling internet and energy access solutions and bringing digital skills to the newly connected.
As Founder & CEO of MentorNations, Dr. Sassi created a youth-led digital skills movement teaching tens of thousands of young changemakers to code in twelve countries.
Dr. Sassi is also CEO & Co-Founder of her latest startup venture – Skills Hustle – a digital skills, entrepreneurship & professional development platform that aims to solve the skills gap around the world. Her Skills Hustle platform launches in 2022.
Dr. Sassi is an avid speaker on startup innovation, digital skills and inclusion, tech entrepreneurship, tech4good, community building, youth empowerment, imposter syndrome, gender inclusion & personal branding. You can find Dr. Sassi on Twitter at @mentorafrika.