We recently connected with Sarah Hassaine and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I am the daughter of immigrants – to two very disciplined hard working people. They raised us in the best school districts and ensured we had access to all the resources and experiences that would help us thrive – be it sports, tutors, and strong communities. However now as I look back at my upbringing, it was the discipline and structure in the house that socially constructed me to succeed today. We had to wake up early and fix our beds before we went downstairs for breakfast. My parents role-modeled healthy eating, working out, and were fairly strict about TV time in lieu of play and homework time. As a child I thought I needed to watch more TV to be cool, but now I see that my time reading books and playing outside on my bike and with my jump rope with the neighborhood kids is what led me to be a strong writer and very good with people.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Love this question and it is so multi-layered! I am people-centered and approach challenges with the strategic lens of peeling layers back to see how holistically are we addressing the situation. I want to ensure all variables and people are taken into consideration. I am a student of politics and policy, throughout my education I had to analyze all points of view, and all risks and opportunities. – this skill set comes into play every day.

After I graduated with my BA in International Relations I moved to Lebanon to work in refugee camps with a project funded by the Danish Refugee Council. I had spent a lot of time helping non-profits as a volunteer prior to that, however being boots on the ground with people changed me and made me believe that micro efforts and exchanges are stronger than trying to change policy and the world per se. From there I stayed in the international development scene for many years driving democracy development and digital transformation and equitable access. I pivoted eventually into tech, heading over to Amazon in Seattle where I got to partner with the Amazon GO and PRIME teams on their brand and recruiting efforts. I traveled the world with them planning conferences and building tech teams that were changing the world. I stayed in tech for 11 years, moving from Amazon to Qualcomm and then Resmed, which is a digital health company specializing in treating sleep apnea. For those 11 years, I drove cultural transformation and led programs that elevated the employee experience and enhanced leadership presence and behaviors. I would build everything myself and facilitated weekly programming and partnered with all departments and leaders. I helped leaders build impactful and strong teams by focusing on ways to motivate and lead inclusively. My favorite part was seeing the impact our corporate footprint was having on many nonprofits where we had offices. I would partner with so many organizations as a sponsor, supporting efforts in STEM, healthcare, education, and homelessness.

I am very committed to, and proud of, San Diego. I sit on four boards and many advisory councils, weighing in on strategic business matters that will affect economic growth and inclusion, and access to care and resources. In fact, my first job was with the San Diego Mayor’s Office and I was dedicated to understanding what the city needed to keep providing for, and meeting, our needs.

I have been writing since high school and been publishing for different blogs, magazines, podcasts and the San Diego Union Tribune – however what I am most proud of is my TED talk! I spoke in San Diego in 2024 and it was selected by TED to be on the global platform. I had applied 5 years in a row and really wanted to communicate to the world how to think about our societies and businesses with an inclusive lens. My goal was to show how imperative representation is in everything we do and build.

Right now, I am taking the time to upskill in AI and support nonprofits with strategic planning and AI integration. I am looking for my next role while nurturing my drive to help our communities thrive and excel.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Empathy. Being in a field like Inclusion and Diversity for 10+ years changes you. You see the best and worst in people. I have had the most insightful conversations, I have felt empty, I have cried, and I have seen hatred at its fullest form. Alternatively, I have seen allyship, curiosity, and care. There is no other field out there where people tell you what they think you do in your day job, or should be doing. I could never go to an engineer or an artist and say, this is how you should code or paint. However in D&I, people will always share what they think will work, not work, or their sentiments towards the mere existence of the labeling of a field. So coming at every day and every interaction with empathy was necessary. I always said that my goal was not to be a voice for people but create pathways for people to express and have access, and that was what drove me. My active listening skills were sharpened and I believe the value of validating and empathizing is key.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Life happens while life is happening. I had a traumatic divorce that left me jobless, penny-less, and “homeless” at the age of 30. I found myself back at my parents house worse off than when I was 21 out of college. Having built a career up to that point in non-profit management and living in Washington DC and a year in Saudi Arabia as a Director of an organization I had no idea what I wanted to do. Back then, the tech sector was starting to boom and I had to figure out how to rebrand myself to make a career change from non-profit to for-profit. It took months of mentorship, informational meetings, many resume drafts to get to the point where I was landing and nailing interviews and offers. It was often demoralizing because I had what it took on paper – the degrees, the international experience, the languages and the achievements – but none of that felt relevant in an age that was moving fast with engineering and digital transformation. I made a plan and every day stuck to doing “work” to find my next “work.” That is when I landed at Amazon and pivoted fully into the tech corporate space. It is a journey, and for anyone reading and going through the transition in this economy, stay the course. It does not happen over night, but it is a series of actions that require diligence, positivism and intention, that will get you there. It is possible. In many ways, I am doing it again right now.

Contact Info:

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahhassaine/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-9xPAmduNQ

Image Credits
Sarah Hassaine winning the San Diego Business Woman of the Year in 2022
Teaching a workshop on Motivating teams for the Boys and Girls Club