The author of Lean In: Women, Work and the Will to Lead, Sheryl Sandberg, has carved out an extremely impressive career for herself. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in economics at Harvard, graduating summa cum laude. She served as research assistant to future-United States Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers at the World Bank. Sandberg then enrolled in Harvard Business School, earning her Master of Business Administration degree with highest distinction.
Between 1996 and 2001, Sandberg was the Chief of Staff to then-United States Secretary of the Treasury Larry Summers. She became employed by Google, Inc. in 2001; from November 2001 to March 2008, she acted as Vice President of Global Online Sales and Operations for the company. She was tasked with the online sales of the company's publishing and advertising products, in addition to the “sales operations of Google's consumer products” and Google Book Search.
After Sandberg met Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive and co-founder of Facebook, in 2007, he got to know her at the World Economic Forum in January of 2008 and shortly after, hired her as Chief Operating Officer, where she helped make the site profitable by 2010. Sandberg's responsibilities at Facebook include marketing, sales, business development, human resources, communications, and public policy. Since her ascent at Google and Facebook, she has been ranked progressively higher on business and financial publications' annual lists of most influential and powerful women.