MARCELA ESCOBAR-ALAVA

Breaking Glass Ceilings As A Latina In Tech

Marcela Escobar-Alava serves as the Deputy Director Office of Administration Information Technology Enterprise Applications, where she delivers enterprise solutions across the Executive Office of the President. During this Administration, she also served as the Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of White House Information Technology. Prior to her federal service, she was the transformational Chief Information Officer for Monarch Companies, where she led the integration of acquisitions into a single culture and operating system. Prior to Monarch, she was the Chief Digital Officer for the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, where she developed the digital products, technology and marketing strategy to enable the broadest reach, largest grants and donations, and generational impact the organization has ever attained. 


Prior to Hispanic Scholarship Fund, she was the Divisional CIO for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, a multi-billion-dollar division of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In that role, she oversaw the Global Information Technology strategy and direction to support and enable Home Entertainment’s business operations, including sales, marketing, manufacturing, distribution, business intelligence, finance, and digital functions. Originally from Los Angeles, Alava holds a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in International Business from Loyola Marymount University, and a Master’s degree in Business Administration in Information Systems and Operations Management from the University of Southern California. She has served on and led a variety of non-profit boards and Advisory Committees at the local and national level within the STEM, Early childhood education, Higher Ed and DE&I spaces.