Melissa Sassi, Startup Program Manager at IBM; Chair of IEEE's Digital Skills Working Group; Founder & CEO of MentorNations

This week, Stephen Ibaraki has an exclusive interview with Melissa Sassi.

Melissa Sassi is a Startup Program Manager at IBM focused on empowering early-stage entrepreneurs through technology and business acceleration, technology credits, comarketing, go-to-market strategy, and access to IBM's partner ecosystem. Melissa is a division-level lead for Call for Code, an initiative aimed at preparing for and responding to disaster scenarios with technical innovation. Prior to joining IBM, Melissa spent several years in Microsoft's Airband Initiative where she was an impact investor focused on internet and energy access. Melissa is Chair of IEEE's Digital Skills Working Group and is on the Steering Committee of the Coalition for Digital Intelligence with the World Economic Forum, OECD, IEEE, and the DQ Institute. She is the Founder & CEO of MentorNations, a youth-led digital skills movement, aimed at inspiring the lives of the underserved via access, skills, and utilization of technology. Melissa holds two master's degrees in supply chain and finance and is working toward her PhD in international business. Her research focuses on the digital inclusion of unserved communities.

TO WATCH THE VIDEO INTERVIEW, CLICK ON THIS MP4 file link