Melissa Fabros, a software engineer at Kiva, navigated a unique path to her current role, beginning with a passion for programming in middle school that she maintained through a degree in English and American Literature. Her career pivot from academia to technology was driven by a renewed curiosity in coding, leading her to roles at Google Summer of Code and Hackbright Academy, where she transitioned from a student to an educator. Mentorship and community support, particularly from organizations like Women Who Code and Delta Analytics, played a significant role in her career development, allowing her to contribute to open-source projects and teach machine learning courses internationally. Fabros views leadership through the lens of mentorship and is inspired by the technical leadership at Kiva, which aligns with her vision of fostering growth and opportunity for others. Looking forward, she is eager to delve into ethics and AI, building on her experiences with fast.ai to empower individuals from diverse backgrounds with machine learning skills.