Growing up, Archana Ravi, an observant and compassionate child, watched her mother lead a school of over 500 students while her dad opened up his own travel agency. Both effective leaders but with very different styles, Archana's mother leaned on high emotional intelligence and empathy to navigate challenges and her dad practiced a goals-centric leadership approach. Archana learned early on that the way you treat people and interact with them will have a direct impact on how they see you and work with you.
When Archana Ravi graduated from SRM, Anna University in Chennai with a bachelor's degree in computer science, she was eager to hit the ground running as a professional. Her first role was as a programmer analyst at Sanmina SCI Technology. Her firm helped its clients design integrated manufacturing solutions for high-technology OEM endeavors, and for Archana, the work was interesting and filled with opportunity. She learned a number of data extraction and analysis techniques which sparked an interest in data science that she felt called to pursue.
Because of this experience, Archana ended up pursuing and completing a nano degree in data science. She spent five years at Sanmina, working her way up from an analyst role to leading new initiatives. She was a skilled technical specialist and was known within the organization as someone who "got stuff done," but still, Archana was left looking for more from her career.
Earlier than many people, Archana began looking inward to figure out what she wanted from her career and how she could turn her vision into a reality. The journey of self-discovery isn't always easy, but for Archana, it was more than worth it. Taking a role as the director of product operations at a non-profit organization, she paused the path she was on and focused on doing mission-driven work.
At The WonderSeed Foundation, Archana supported the organization in boosting the emotional intelligence of young people through virtual reality. Beyond that, Archana worked closely with the CEO to prepare annual reports and identify areas of opportunity for the organization. Working somewhere that had a lasting impact was invigorating, and in the end, it inspired Archana to make a shift in her career. She wanted to be able to help people, lead teams, and have a lasting impact.
Getting a master's degree in software engineering opened Archana up to a set of new opportunities, and recently, she joined Microsoft as a program manager. In this role, she gets to work with dynamic teams, design and support some of the most strategic products within the organization, and strategize how to help Microsoft have a lasting impact on its clients. Every day, she's excited to start her day and begin collaborating with her team. With a growth mindset at the forefront of everything she does, Archana is always ready to learn new skills and give back even more.
In an effort to grow her leadership capabilities, Archana started taking classes at UCLA to complete a certificate in advanced leadership. She was also very involved during her master's program; she worked as an associated students senator to help improve the university, dedicated time to her role as a student ambassador for the Black Scholars Matter (BSM) organization on campus, and spent time as an accelerator scholar in the Customer Discovery Program at the University.
Her work on campus restrengthened her commitment to tackling real-world problems, no matter where she ended up professionally. "Solving real problems started providing more joy and I was constantly looking at stepping unknowns - to make things better for the people around me," says Archana.
Archana has always been skilled in programming languages and computer science. She can switch from talking about Data science, AI, EI in a matter of seconds. But it wasn't until she began searching for something more that she found personal fulfillment and the way to have a greater income than she ever thought possible. Now, her time is spent as a program manager at Microsoft, working on complex projects, collaborating with large teams and being a positive force for her clients and colleagues.
Sure that there was more out there, Archana took a leap of faith in herself and began doing the work to step outside her comfort zone. Along the way, she found out who she wanted to be, how she wanted to work, and the impact she hoped to have. Her story is one of inspiration, curiosity, and self-assurance – a few things this world could use more of.
