Erika Twani is the education industry director for Microsoft Latin America’s Multi-Country region, responsible for the company’s sales and marketing in the education industry and the citizenship program Partners in Learning, which enables 90,000 teachers per year in the use of technology. Prior to that, Erika was responsible for Education in Microsoft’s Unlimited Potential Group, a program that combines advanced technologies and strong partnerships with governments, international organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), educational institutions, and technology and service partners, to enable technology to reach underserved communities globally.
Under her leadership, Microsoft has increased sales by 154% for original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segment in Chile through successful sales campaigns and customer adoption of new products, an initiative that was later spread worldwide throughout Microsoft. She also created and launched a sales model via undergraduate students in Brazil, which reaches a total of 6,000 registered members, and has represented Microsoft while engaging with government officials in Latin America. She is a speaker at international education events and has co-authored three papers about the use of technology in education.
Erika has more than 18 years of international experience in sales, marketing, and profit and loss management. She started her career with Microsoft in 2005 as a regional sales manager for the Enterprise Partners organization within Latin America.
Prior to Microsoft, Erika worked with the multinational company Oracle and was in charge of license management for its Latin America operations. In this role, she directed 20% of the total license revenue for the region while managing a 14-person team. She managed to over exceed her yearly revenue and EBIT plan by 10% throughout her four-year tenure, as well as supported the sales force and partners while working with the largest customers with new/updated Oracle products and solutions. Erika also implemented a partner program in the entire region, increasing sales by 10% with no added cost. Erika was a business owner in Brazil, prior to working for Oracle. Her company grew from five to 300 employees in six years, and from zero to US$60M in sales in the same period.
Erika resides in Florida. She is originally from Brazil from where she holds a bachelor’s degree in software engineering from Brasília Catholic University in Sao Paolo, Brazil and an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the Jones International University in Denver, Colorado.
