Sheryl Sandberg (b. 1969) is an American technology executive, author, and activist, best known as the longtime chief operating officer of Facebook and for founding the "Lean In" movement encouraging women's leadership. [1]
Early life and education
Sheryl Kara Sandberg was born on August 28, 1969, in Washington, D.C., and grew up in North Miami Beach, Florida. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Harvard College and later returned to Harvard Business School, where she completed her MBA. [1]
Early career
After business school, Sandberg worked as a management consultant before serving as chief of staff to Lawrence Summers, the United States Secretary of the Treasury, during the Clinton administration. In 2001 she joined Google, where she became vice president of global online sales and operations and helped build the company's advertising business. [1][3]
Facebook and Meta
In 2008 Sandberg was recruited by Mark Zuckerberg to become chief operating officer of Facebook, a role in which she oversaw the company's business operations and advertising model as it grew into one of the world's largest technology firms. She served as COO for fourteen years, stepping down in 2022 while remaining for a time on the board of its parent company, Meta Platforms. [1][4]
Lean In and writing
In 2013 Sandberg published Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, an international bestseller that urged women to pursue leadership roles and sparked a global conversation about gender and the workplace. She founded the nonprofit LeanIn.Org to support the movement. After the sudden death of her husband, Dave Goldberg, in 2015, she co-wrote Option B with psychologist Adam Grant, exploring resilience and recovery from grief. [2]
Recognition and legacy
Sandberg has been named repeatedly to Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people and is widely regarded as one of the most prominent women in the technology industry. Her advocacy through "Lean In" and her central role in shaping Facebook's advertising-driven business have made her an influential, and at times debated, figure in discussions of corporate leadership and women's empowerment. [1]
