Sara Ball

About Sara Ball

Deep experience in strategic public relations, earned media placement and corporate communications across the consumer, technology, digital entertainment, and retail categories with a client roster that has included Dell Technologies, Walmart, Microsoft, Xbox, Starbucks and many more.• Blockbuster media placements and tier-one coverage results for clients including TODAY, the New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal and more• Award-winning campaigns, including a consumer technology product launch that earned the PR industry’s coveted Silver Anvil\'s \"Award of Excellence\"

Experience

1. Communications, Microsoft Elevate

   Microsoft

   Aug 2023 — Present

   As the successor to Microsoft Philanthropies and the Tech for Social Impact team, Elevate expands and deepens Microsoft’s commitment to empowering mission-driven organizations through technology.In my role on the Elevate marketing team, I lead the Communications strategy, overseeing execution to drive marketing scale, support customer needs, and build a robust pipeline of customer stories. These stories accelerate deal velocity and amplify awareness and adoption across the nonprofit, UN, and NGO sectors. Over the past two years, I’ve contributed to several key achievements:• 4x Growth in Nonprofit Storytelling: Quadrupled the number of nonprofit customer stories published across high-impact channels including Microsoft News Source, Microsoft Unlocked, the Microsoft Cloud Blog, LinkedIn, and premium placements like the Windows lock screen.• Influencer Engagement Program: Launched a targeted influencer initiative to share thought leadership, data insights, and customer stories via key community platforms and top nonprofit industry podcasts—positioning Microsoft as a trusted voice in sector-wide conversations.• Strategic Media Partnerships: Collaborated with Microsoft Public Affairs and industry media teams to elevate nonprofit and UN customer stories during major corporate moments and external press campaigns.• Internal Alignment & Storytelling Culture: Developed internal communications and newsletters to connect field teams with corporate operations—celebrating wins, spotlighting customer impact, and reinforcing storytelling as a strategic growth lever.• Executive Communications: Draft executive messaging and talking points at high-impact events including the UN General Assembly, NetHope Summit, and Microsoft’s Global Nonprofit Leaders Summit.

Education

• The Evergreen State College

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Communications

Skills

• Corporate Communications
• Photoshop
• Press Releases
• Television
• Blogging
• Integrated Marketing
• New Media
• Marketing Management
• Social Media
• Strategy
• Copywriting
• Web Design
• Wordpress
• Entertainment
• Public Relations
• Media Relations
• Product Marketing
• Crisis Communications
• Advertising
• Video