Meenoo’s passion for youth and education is palpable. It was ignited by her first career as a classroom educator, where she spent a decade working within the public school system of Philadelphia, in the United States. The city itself presented its own set of challenges for someone in her role, working in areas of poverty and seeing firsthand how both students and teachers struggled. It was then that Meenoo realized her desire to help bridge those gaps and find ways to support both students and teachers in their journeys of learning and exploration, and to develop tools to make the process more inspiring, engaging and rewarding.

After becoming a national board-certified teacher, Meenoo went on to add the title of author to her resume, with the publication of her book “Thrive: 5 Ways to (Re)Invigorate Your Teaching.” In addition, she was the founder of #engchat, an international Twitter chat for English teachers. She is a teacher-consultant for the National Writing Project and an instructor in Arcadia University’s Connected Learning Certificate Program. Meenoo has also worked as a teaching fellow with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, where she led the portfolio to help teachers refine their practice through collaboration while building and fostering communities.

A former colleague from the foundation had moved over to Microsoft, learned of the company’s plans to start up a team to develop a version of Minecraft for schools, and immediately thought of Meenoo and her background as a perfect fit. The opportunity was to determine how to bring the joy of play and connection to schools around the world, and how do we take something kids everywhere love passionately and turn it into an educational tool. Meenoo was in that role for three years, at which point she wanted to grow her skills, and went to work with the Power Platform team to build a data model and product for schools and universities to utilize.

It’s been five years since Meenoo first joined the company, and she recently began a new role, her third with the company, working with Xbox and the Family, Trust and Safety team, focused on building welcoming experiences for the brand’s youngest players and their families. What attracted Meenoo to this latest adventure within the company is that it allows her to create products that are educational, help people feel supported, and keeps kids safe while they enjoy their games and consoles. “I love building products and being part of teams that bring value to our customers and the world.”

Meenoo is a Principal Product Manager on Xbox Community – Family, Trust and Safety team. Follow Meenoo on Twitter @meenoorami and Connect via LinkedIn.

#OurPassions Stories: This series is a collection of stories shared directly by employees in the #OurPassions community, an internal employee engagement initiative to celebrate what people are passionate about inside and outside the workplace