The first day Sirene Abou-Chakra came to work as Chief Development Officer for the City of Detroit, the city shut down. COVID-19 arrived quickly, closing offices overnight, disrupting daily life, and creating widespread uncertainty around work, housing, health care, and access to essential services.
City leaders were asked to respond just as quickly despite limited information and rapidly changing conditions. Coordination between government agencies, nonprofit groups, and private companies became essential, even as each group worked through the same unknowns.
For Abou-Chakra, there was little time to ease into the position. She took on responsibility for investment strategy, public–private partnerships, and crisis response under circumstances that demanded immediate action.
Across the city, departments, philanthropic partners, and private-sector organizations stepped forward with funding, programs, and ideas. The issue was not effort, but coordination. As conditions changed daily, Abou-Chakra focused less on launching new initiatives and more on aligning existing efforts so support reached residents quickly.
“That experience tested every leadership muscle I have and remains one of the most meaningful chapters of my career,” Abou-Chakra shared.
That period reinforced the importance of directing resources with greater intention. One of the most significant initiatives to follow was the Strategic Neighborhood Fund.
Alongside city leadership and external partners, Abou-Chakra helped raise more than $35 million from local and national corporations to support targeted, place-based development across several neighborhoods in Detroit.
Rather than spreading resources throughout the city, the initiative concentrated on a smaller set of neighborhoods, directing capital toward commercial corridors, small businesses, and existing community assets.
“That work reinforced my belief that neighborhood-level investment, when done thoughtfully and in partnership with residents, can drive long-term economic resilience and civic trust,” Abou-Chakra said.
Throughout her career, Abou-Chakra has gravitated toward roles where institutional decisions produce meaningful outcomes for the people they serve.
Facing Public Pressure During Election Season
Before entering public service, Abou-Chakra spent more than a decade at Google. There, she worked in civic engagement, elections, public–private partnerships, and product development during a time when digital political advertising was still taking shape.
Much of that work happened before clear industry standards were in place. Campaigns, governments, and organizations were learning how to use new digital tools as they went, often without precedent. Decisions were made quickly, the stakes were public, and teams had to balance performance with responsibility in real time.
On Google’s elections team, Abou-Chakra contributed to civic engagement efforts, helping lead initiatives focused on voter participation during the 2016 Iowa caucus. Those initiatives helped ensure voters could find reliable information at the exact moments they were actively searching for it, accomplished through a combination of search and mobile video.
Within the group, there was a shared understanding that they were building new norms as they went, which they described as writing the textbook in real time. The phrase captured both the speed of change and the level of care required when technology begins to play a visible role in civic life at scale.
One of the teams Abou-Chakra managed ranked first globally on key performance metrics, driven by clear goals, consistent coaching, and a culture inspired by teamwork and excellence. Performance mattered, but so did accountability, especially when public trust was on the line.
The experience made her think differently about scale and responsibility. Working with tools used by millions reinforced the importance of thoughtful governance and staying grounded in the needs of real people and communities. It also showed her how quickly decisions made inside technology companies can ripple outward into everyday life.
Using AI With a People-First Mindset
After her time at Google, Sirene Abou-Chakra joined Dataminr, where she built the company’s AI for Good program from scratch. At the time, there was no established model for applying artificial intelligence to humanitarian and human rights challenges.
“Navigating that uncertainty required creativity, confidence, and the ability to move forward without perfect answers,” she said.
The focus was on using AI in ways that could support decision-making during moments of crisis. Abou-Chakra worked closely with global nonprofits and humanitarian organizations, including Ushahidi, to apply AI-driven insights to early warning systems, crisis response, and efforts to protect vulnerable populations.
“By staying focused on purpose and outcomes, we were able to build a successful program that translated advanced technology into real-world impact,” she said.
Beyond program development, Abou-Chakra also co-authored white papers and contributed to conversations around the responsible use of AI. The idea wasn’t to advance technology for its own sake, but to set expectations for how it should be used, especially in situations where mistakes could cause serious harm.
That work carried into her next role at Airbnb, where she continued to bring together technology, policy, and data, concentrating on how large platforms and cities engage with one another.
Coordinating with product, policy, and engineering teams, Abou-Chakra used data and AI-enabled tools to help governments better understand local impact and navigate compliance at scale.
“My focus has consistently been on ensuring that AI is deployed thoughtfully,” she said. “Enhancing decision-making, strengthening institutions, and improving quality of life rather than creating distance between technology and people.”
Leadership as Stewardship
Abou-Chakra traces much of her leadership style back to years spent playing sports, where progress was rarely dependent on individual effort alone.
“I grew up playing sports, and that experience instilled in me a deep respect for teamwork, shared accountability, and the idea that extraordinary outcomes are only possible when people trust one another and pull in the same direction,” she said.
That perspective carried into her professional life, where she has consistently prioritized clear expectations, mutual trust, and collective ownership. Each of these values stems from the belief that people are more effective when they understand how their work connects to a broader goal and feel supported along the way.
Sports weren’t her only teacher. Abou-Chakra’s father built a small business from the ground up after immigrating to the United States, demonstrating persistence and responsibility.
Her mother spent her career as a bilingual and special education teacher, advocating for students and families who often needed additional support. Together, they modeled consistency, care, and follow-through, remaining her greatest influences.
Mentors like her former boss, Ryan Friedrichs, only reinforced those lessons.
“Working with him taught me how to bring unlikely people together to solve big problems, how to stay grounded in optimism and positivity, and how to lead with calm and clarity in environments that are often political and high-pressure,” she shared. “His approach reinforced my belief that collaboration and optimism are strategic advantages, not soft skills.”
Maha Freij, president and CEO of ACCESS in Michigan, taught her the value of service, compassion, and resilience, particularly in the face of adversity.
At Google, Charles Scrase was an early believer in her potential, giving her one of her first significant professional opportunities. From him, she learned lessons about accountability, excellence, and trust.
“Because he believed in me early, I make a point of taking chances on others and creating opportunities for people who show potential and grit,” she said.
These experiences continue to influence how Abou-Chakra leads today. She brings a strong competitive drive and a sense of urgency to her work, remaining attentive to the people behind the results and viewing leadership as a shared responsibility.
Measuring What Matters
As a Lebanese-American immigrant, Sirene Abou-Chakra learned early on that institutions do not affect everyone in the same way. Years later in Detroit, Mayor Mike Duggan articulated that same reality when he said, “Talent is distributed evenly; opportunity is not.”
Much of Abou-Chakra’s life has been guided by a desire to close that gap, starting well before her career took off. While still in college, she founded a nonprofit called Doors of Opportunity, which supports Arab-American high school students navigating the college admissions process.
“Through mentorship and advocacy, we helped increase Arab student enrollment at the University of Michigan by four times,” she said. “That work was deeply personal to me and set the foundation for everything I’ve done since, grounding my career in the belief that expanding opportunity changes lives.”
Across government, global technology companies, and nonprofit partnerships, Abou-Chakra has consistently sought positions where decisions influence access, stability, and dignity in concrete ways. The question she returns to is not whether something can be built or scaled, but whether it improves outcomes for the people affected.
“Whether building technology for public good, mobilizing resources during crises, or aligning institutions around long-term impact, my motivation has remained constant: to help create systems that work better for more people,” she shared.
For Abou-Chakra, public–private partnerships are not an abstract concept. They are a way to turn responsibility into action. And when they succeed, the impact shows up in stronger communities, more capable institutions, and opportunities that reach further than ever before.
