In 2020, Maria Alvarez became general manager, AI Platform – Cloud + AI Division at Microsoft, following 20 years in software development, security, Internet, and AI industries. She joined Microsoft in 2011 as the general manager of Shared Engineering Services in the Artificial Intelligence and Research Division, responsible for a 200-person team that provides engineering tools and services for security, privacy, accessibility, compliance, design, user research, and content. Previously, she held technical positions with Symantec, HP, CoCreate Software and Yahoo!, and served as chief technology officer of Panda Security in Spain. Ms.Alvarez earned her bachelor's degree in information technology from Universidad Tecnológica del Centro in Venezuela, and in 2016, attended Stanford University's Executive Leadership Development program. To encourage more women and minorities to enter technology, Alvarez created a scholarship at Cal Poly Pomona to help students of color in financial need to pursue technical or computer, science majors. She devotes time to mentoring women in the tech industry and is involved in joint projects between Cal Poly Pomona and Microsoft to train students and provide internships and employment. SOURCE https://www2.calstate.edu/impact-of-the-csu/alumni/made-in-the-csu/pomona/Pages/maria-alvarez.aspx