People at Microsoft: Keisha Ebbesen

Early in my career, as a director at a university, I found that my passion was to help others learn and grow. As a first-generation college graduate, I loved what I did in this role because I could contribute to students' educational and career goals and help them achieve their own success. Still, I wanted to find ways to do more for students.

So, I helped students find career mentors-andsome of those mentors worked at Microsoft. I got to know a few employees, which sparked my interest in the company and how I could make a larger impact for my students.

This led to a conversation with a Microsoft recruiter who shared my passion for helping students find careers and life-changing opportunities. I knew what my next step should be: I applied and joined the university recruiting team at Microsoft to help diversify early-in-career talent programs.

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Microsoft has given me a runway to see how far I can go and how much I can achieve. I've been able to create programs and initiatives to continue to empower our recruiting teams and employees. My managers and allies at Microsoft have supported me throughout my career development, and that has helped me develop into who I am today. Being a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc. has also connected me to other powerful women who share the same mission here at Microsoft.

My mom and dad are my inspiration-theydid everything possible to make a way for me to achieve my own goals through education. Both of my parents were immigrants from Jamaica, West Indies, and moved to New York to follow their dreams and create a foundation for me. My parents are now 80 years old and still support my journey every day.

Throughout my experience, I've noticed that not everyone has a support system to help them achieve their goals. That's why I've taken the challenge of offering to be a support system to everyone I meet.

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Since I know what it's like to restart your career, it's important for me to connect with students and working professionals to tell them about my experiences and what unique opportunities they can find at Microsoft. I share a detailed roadmap so that people can see themselves in their dream role and to show them that it really is possible.

I recently moved to Atlanta from Seattle to bring my energy and passion for our technology to the community. I feel the heartbeat of Microsoft Atlanta daily! I host networking events every month to help job seekers learn more about our roles by introducing them to the Microsoft Engineering community.

I also share my experiences and create connections for career opportunities through my LinkedIn community, building my network into almost 30,000 people. In my free time, I create visual content to teach job seekers how to recruit and interview with confidence. I am a community builder, and this is how I help others on their career journeys.

My wildest dream is to create an early learning academy in Atlanta for young students to learn more about technology and software engineering. Leaning on my faith in Christ, my husband Delvin and our two children, Mekai and Maliyah, I believe anything is possible.

-Keisha Ebbesen, Atlanta, GA