Priyanka Sharma

I came to the U.S. for my undergraduate and went to Penn State, where I was an economics major to begin with. Through conversations with my advisor, I decided to switch my major from economics to supply chain and information systems, which was a new major at Penn State at the time. I think I was the second cohort to graduate from there in 2007. I'm one of the few professionals that actually is still doing what I studied, so I've continued to grow professionally within supply chain, and more specifically in procurement and strategic sourcing. I went back to school for my MBA in finance, which was strategic because I already had supply chain in my background. The finance piece helps me understand how supply chain ties into the whole financial piece of the company. I graduated with my MBA in December of 2012. I've been in technology for the past 11 years and just switched to the chemical industry a few months ago. Earlier on in my career, I was a logistics analyst, which involved sitting behind a computer for 8 hours a day, and that wasn't it for me. I love being able to engage with people and build relationships to impact my role. The accomplishment I'm most proud of is the relationships I've built over the years, all the way from the vendors and other corporations who've leaned in every time I had a professional goal to help me deliver those goals, to internally within the company where I work, from buyers that are entry-level positions all the way to a chief procurement officer who is a mentor of mine from one of my past companies.