When you’ve lived on the outside, you design systems that welcome everyone in.
JoAnn Garbin didn’t take the traditional path into big tech—she created her own. Raised without easy access to resources or opportunity, she built her career by imagining bold futures and then doing the work to make them real. Along the way, she never lost sight of the people who helped her, and those still waiting for a door to open.
At Microsoft, JoAnn was a bold systems thinker and changemaker. She led the Regenerative Datacenter of the Future—a groundbreaking initiative that reimagined how digital infrastructure could restore nature, empower communities, and scale mutualisms in tech. Even in the uncertainty of the pandemic, she and her team rapidly advanced a new model that tripled funding year over year and shifted the conversation around what’s possible. Its estimated impact? $1 billion to start.
Determined to extend that mindset beyond Microsoft, JoAnn co-authored The Insider’s Guide to Innovation at Microsoft—a practical playbook for real-world innovation now used across corporations, schools, startups, and nonprofits. A new LinkedIn Learning course will spread that knowledge even further. Proceeds? Donated to STEAM education nonprofits to support the next generation of changemakers.
“The future may be powered by AI, but it will be shaped by human creativity, connection, and care.” — JoAnn Garbin
Now, as Founding Partner of Regenerous Labs, JoAnn is designing inclusive futures from the ground up. Her team has abandoned traditional hierarchy to build regenerative systems that scale well-being from individuals to communities through tools, stories, and bold experiments in collective agency.
JoAnn’s story is a reminder: when you know what exclusion feels like, you fight to design systems where everyone is welcome—and everyone can thrive.
About #empowHER50 campaign
This campaign celebrates women leaders at Microsoft, past and present, who have been instrumental in democratizing access to technology, opportunity, and growth. By honoring their contributions over the last half-century, this campaign highlights stories of resilience, innovation, and inclusivity. Through digital spotlights, a commemorative coffee table book, live recognition events, and more, the campaign inspires collective action toward achieving equitable societal goals. To learn more about empowHER50, please visit https://womenincloud.com/empowHER50
To learn about Microsoft 50th celebrations: https://news.microsoft.com/microsoft-50/
