Microsoft AI for Earth Lead Alma Cárdenas Joins Symbrosia Board
At Symbrosia, the team of people that makes up our moo-vement is our greatest asset. We’re talking about our our incredible group of employees, but also our partners, our ambassadors, our carbon offsetters, and our Board of Directors.
Symbrosia is excited to announce Alma Cárdenas as the newest addition to our Board of Directors. Alma is joining our Board to help guide us on our journey to scale, with an emphasis on utilizing digital technologies and data to maximize our impact.
The daughter of a Mexican mother and an American father, Alma was raised in Mexico and then moved to the United States. Drawn to technology, at age 15 she decided to focus on computer engineering. Her passion for the environment also grew when she was young.
Alma brings over 30 years of experience working in the software industry in a variety of leadership roles. After starting out as a developer, she moved to managing software and product teams, then led professional services and consulting organizations. She has spent the last 11 years leading teams at Microsoft.
In her current role as Microsoft’s AI for Earth and Ecosystems Global Senior Program Manager, Alma combines her passion for sustainability with her tech leadership skills. Microsoft’s AI for Earth Initiative is a $50 million effort to leverage machine learning and cloud technologies to support environmental science.
With partners around the world, Alma and the AI for Earth team have built a data platform to track greenhouse gas emissions from the global shipping fleet, an AI-powered service to predict areas of the Amazon Rainforest at risk for deforestation, and software to analyze heat patterns by pairing thermal cameras with machine learning. “These projects are my passion,” shared Alma. “The transition from the science and research into actual impact is what I think needs to happen and needs to be accelerated.”
An agriculture-focused team within Microsoft first introduced Alma to Symbrosia. She saw a startup poised to make an immediate impact by mitigating methane emissions. Through early conversations, it became clear that there is an amazing opportunity for Alma to use her unique experience and skillset to help Symbrosia reach the next level.
“This is amazing. This is so creative. If we were to have Symbrosia’s solution at scale, that’s when I get hopeful that we can address climate change and the methane emissions problem.” - Alma Cárdenas
Alma is currently working with Symbrosia to use digital technologies to design a data-driven, scalable carbon credits program that meets the rigorous standards set by Microsoft and other organizations making net-zero commitments. She will continue working with us to ensure that all aspects of our growing operation are powered by the best digital technology available.
“Alma’s expertise in corporate carbon accounting places Symbrosia in a strategic position for adoption of our carbon credits class,” said Symbrosia Founder & CEO Alexia Akbay.
Alma, we are so thrilled to have you on the Symbrosia team, and we cannot wait to continue working with you to accelerate our impact!
