Sheila Narayanan (she / her / hers)

As the Head of Global Social Impact Programs for Cognizant globally, and in her prior experience leading Volunteerism and Community Development for Cognizant and its U.S. Foundation, Sheila Narayanan has focused her efforts on inclusion in tech and using technology for social impact. She is also an evangelist for STEM education for underserved communities, working tirelessly to bridge the digital divide.

Previously Sheila spent 25 years as a business executive. Sheila was an early evangelist for the role of data in decision-making and spent over 15 years leading data-driven transformation. She was the founding Head of Product for the Information Business at MasterCard, leading the monetization of the company's transaction and location data, and she has led acquisitions and integration of startups.

She graduated as a mechanical engineer with a class of 40 boys and three girls and started her career designing jet engines at Rolls Royce and GE. Twenty years later, realizing that the numbers of women in engineering were still appallingly low, Sheila pivoted, bringing her business skills to become an advocate for STEM education for underserved groups. She was the Chief Digital Experience Executive at Girl Scouts of the USA, leading the digital transformation of the Girl Scout program.