Alumni Spotlight - Sabina Zafar
Posted on August 27, 2020 by Keith Lynn
Sabina Zafar graduated from USA’s School of Computing in May 2001 with a degree in
Information Systems. As a student, she participated in ACM and shares that the Senior
Project was one of her favorite classes as it pushed her to think outside the box,
work independently and collaborate with her professor. “I enjoyed having discussion
with my professor, being challenged as well as challenging him. It opened up my mind
to looking at the same problem multiple ways,” she states.
Remembering Dr. Harold Pardue as her favorite professor, Sabina says, “I really enjoyed his class because we had very interesting conversations about the future of e-commerce. This was right around the time when Amazon had started as a bookstore and EBay was actually bigger than Amazon. We talked about smart things, smart refrigerators and housekeeper robots, AI/ML and how in 20 years these would be the norm in our lives.”
Sabina’s career path provided her with many opportunities for growth. After graduation, she worked for a year with Southwest Alabama Mental Health where she built and established an electronic patient check-in form system. She moved to Scottsdale, Arizona in 2003 where she started her own web design company which allowed her to work at home while raising her two young children. She moved to San Ramon, California in 2006 and began work at an Edtech company in 2007. Over the next ten years, Sabina worked with several companies and across several verticals including healthcare, financials, advertisement, publishing, gaming, manufacturing, oil & gas and power.
In 2017, General Electric Digital recruited her for their Corporate Leadership Program, which led to her role as Senior Director of Technology where she manages a global team of engineering professionals including enterprise architects, software developers and program managers. She recently joined the Electric Grid organization at GE Digital and provides technical leadership to key accounts. She currently serves as Enterprise Architecture Leader for the company.
Active in her community, Sabina is a board member of Asian Pacific Islander American
Public Affairs and serves as Vice Mayor of the City of San Ramon. She has recently
announced her candidacy for Mayor and plans to focus on inclusion, transparency and
technological innovation.
In addition, she enjoys her role on the advisory board for Aerial Intelligence Group, a startup providing drone solution consulting services, and she provides mentorship at Bishop Ranch Intelligence Innovation Accelerator. She is also affiliated with Women in Technology organizations promoting the growth of women in the field of technology. “At GE, I lead several initiatives for the women’s network that encourages middle school and high school girls to pursue STEM careers, and I host and speak at industry events to build a community for women that work in technology,” she shares.
In viewing her career and her life, Sabina sites a favorite quote from Sheryl Sandberg: “….look for opportunities, look for growth, look for impact, look for mission. Move sideways, move down, move on, move off. Build your skills, not your resume.”