Tehran to Tech: A Refugee's Journey to Senior Program Manager at Microsoft ~ Hands-On Heroes Ep11 w/ Donya Ziraksari

In this episode of Hands On Heroes, Valerie sits down with Donya Ziraksari, a mechanical engineer and senior technical program manager at Microsoft, whose life story is anything but ordinary. Donya shares her remarkable journey from arriving in the United States as a refugee from Iran in 2007 to building a thriving career in data center construction and engineering leadership — a path shaped by resilience, curiosity, and an unwavering commitment to human connection.

Donya opens up about her two books — her published memoir Tehran to Miami, which traces her family's history and cultural roots, and her upcoming release Random Beings, which explores women's vulnerability and self-doubt. She also previews her next project, How to Be a Woman, a collection of stories about the challenges and expectations women face across all areas of life. Donya shares the behind-the-scenes reality of self-publishing, including the lessons learned from navigating the editing process largely on her own after a difficult experience with an outside editor.

Beyond her career and writing, Donya discusses her deeply personal work as a human rights activist — including her role as a spokesperson for the Iranian-American community in Texas, her advocacy around trafficking and sexual harassment awareness, and her involvement in a short film documenting religious minority persecution in Iran. She makes a compelling case for embedding human rights values into technology and engineering design from the very beginning, rather than treating them as afterthoughts or compliance checkboxes. For Donya, building ethical technology isn't a side conversation — it's a core responsibility of anyone working in engineering and program management.

The conversation also digs into the value of diversity in the workplace, with Donya reflecting on how her background as a refugee gave her a unique lens on project management, team dynamics, and problem solving. She and Valerie explore how diverse thought — drawn from different cultures, life experiences, and perspectives — builds stronger, more adaptable teams, and why allies play a critical role in making that diversity sustainable over time.

From there, the discussion turns to practical workplace wisdom: how to build genuine human connections with colleagues rather than relating to them purely through titles and credentials, how to understand different appreciation languages, and how to adapt communication styles to foster real collaboration. Donya shares specific examples of how she carves out intentional time to connect with teammates on a personal level, and why she believes knowing someone as a whole person — not just a professional — leads to better outcomes for everyone.

Valerie and Donya also tackle the challenge of managing competing priorities with honesty and clarity, supporting colleagues through personal hardship, and creating a work culture where women feel encouraged rather than judged for pursuing balance. They reflect on their own experiences navigating career ambition alongside personal commitments, including the very real weight of mom guilt, and share their philosophies on setting clear goals, protecting personal time, and staying intentional about how energy is spent — both at work and beyond.

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