The woman has been increasingly taking up important spaces, and Ana Corrales, Director of Operations for Google’s Devices and Services business, is an example of this. She is responsible for bringing Google’s consumer hardware products to life, including Pixel smartphones, the new Nest Hub Max, and Pixelbook laptops.
With experience in business and engineering, Corrales leads all aspects of how Google delivers its items to people worldwide: overseeing the end-to-end product development process; IT systems and infrastructure; managing the supply chain; and supervising hardware sustainability efforts, all to drive a pleasant customer experience.
Corrales was born in Costa Rica. She grew up with extremely supportive parents who always made it clear that she was meant to use her skills to contribute to the world in some way.
At the age of 15, she became involved in the National Young Entrepreneurs Program and helped build a product that was later sold to a grocery store chain in Costa Rica.
“I was very curious about the end-to-end product development process: how were they designed, who built them? and how did they reach customers? At 15, I didn’t know I was an aspiring operations leader,” she emphasized in an interview conducted by Google.
Corrales emigrated from Costa Rica to attend university in the United States. She studied Economics at the University of Washington and earned a master’s degree in Systems Engineering Economics at Stanford.
From that point on, she began her career in technology. She rose through leadership positions at Cisco, then successfully started and sold a startup with her sister. After that, she joined Nest, and Nest eventually became part of Google.
Support for Latino education
In addition to her extensive background in technology and being an exemplary mother, Corrales is passionate about creating opportunities for more Latinos to pursue roles in STEM and wants to help them become the next generation of leaders.
“I have been in a unique position for most of my life, and these experiences have reinforced my passion for supporting access to STEM education for people of all kinds. And that’s why I’m so proud to be an executive sponsor of Google’s Latino Employee Resource Group.”
Corrales was in Los Angeles with Google to help announce a $5 million grant to UnidosUS, the YWCA, and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation to help improve access to computer science education for Latino students, with the goal of reaching over 1 million students by 2022.
Corrales extended her voice to the Latino community to encourage them to pursue their dreams. “I know it can be intimidating to take a path different from your family or friends, especially when it’s one that is filled with many people who don’t look like you. But, I believe you should go for it and allow yourself to think big.”