About Me

A widely skilled business leader and dedicated humanitarian, Sonal Shah is the Head of Global Development Initiatives for Google.org. Google.org is a branch of Google that was designed solely for addressing many global challenges, including hunger, poverty, and disease, with Googles considerable financial and technical resources. As the Head of Global Development Initiatives, Sonal Shah is responsible for developing a variety of programs to help solve these problems, collaborating with internal teams (Google Engineers, Product Engineers, etc.) and external teams (NGOs, Government Organizations) in implementing the programs, and accurately assessing their success. Some of Sonal Shahs accomplishments in this regard include the development of two Google.org initiatives, including the Growing Small and Medium Sized Enterprises program and the Inform and Empower program. All of Googles initiatives have directly improved the lives of people living in poverty around the world. Before beginning her innovative work with Google.org, Sonal Shah led the development of a multi-faceted environmental policy for the prestigious investment bank Goldman Sachs. The policy included filing carbon emissions reports, developing positive business relationships with environmentally friendly partners, coaching Goldman Sachs staff on environmentally sound best practices, and working with clients to enact environmentally friendly policies in their own work. Concurrently, Sonal Shah also spoke at many universities and conferences on environmental policies. Previously, Sonal Shah developed extensive policy writing experience at numerous Washington D.C. Think Tanks, including stints as an Associate Director of the Center for American Progress and the Director of Operations and Programs for the Center for Global Development (CGD). Sonal Shah began her work in global development with seven years at the U.S. Department of Treasury, where she helped address the Asian Financial Crisis, setup a Central Band in post-conflict Bosnia, and served as Director of African Nations. Recently, President Obama appointed Sonal Shah to the position of Co-Chair for his administrations Technology, Innovation, and Government Reform panel. In this role, she will advise the administration on how best to implement the Innovation Agenda, a wide-ranging initiative designed to leverage the benefits of technology for the country.