Top 10 Female Salesforce Influencers

Women are changing the narrative in the IT industry every day. Slowly but steadily, we have seen an increase in the number of women stepping into IT start-ups, c-suite positions, and thought leaders. The Salesforce ecosystem is no exception to this increment as we see several women leaders stepping up.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day 2025, we would like to introduce some amazing Female influencers in Salesforce. It wasn’t easy to shortlist only 10 influential women from an ecosystem consisting of hundreds. But we recommend you follow these Salesforce Influencers who are committed to inspiring people with their experience and innovative minds. Shaping the careers of young professionals, they are breaking all barriers to bring more women in tech.

Read along to get inspired!

1. Lilith Van Biesen

The first woman on our list is Lilith Van Biesen, who is a Certified Salesforce Technical Architect currently working at Capgemini. She is a global technology and consulting services leader with extensive experience in Salesforce. Lilith has been instrumental in designing and implementing scalable solutions for diverse clients, all while participating in Salesforce events as a speaker. Her role consists of leading complex projects and implementing Salesforce with alignment of business goals. Beyond the technical expertise, she is a great mentor who advocates for women in technology. She regularly speaks at knowledge-sharing sessions to empower the next generation of tech leaders.

2. Melissa Hill Dees

Melissa Hill Dees is the founding partner of HandsOn Connect, dedicating her career to empowering nonprofits through Salesforce solutions. She is a passionate advocate for using technology to drive social impact. Her desire to make a difference in the nonprofit sector has led her to spend years working with higher education and humanitarian organizations. She helps them in achieving their mission with the help of Salesforce. Melissa has also co-founded Agile Cloud Consulting to continue her mission. As an active member of the trailblazer community, she shares her knowledge through speaking engagements and mentorship programs. 

3. Meghan Gendelman

The next inspiring woman on the list is Meghan Gendeman, who serves as SVP of Global Strategic Marketing at Salesforce. She plays a pivotal role in designing the company’s marketing strategy for the global market. Meghan oversees projects to increase brand recognition and consumer interaction. Through her participation in various on-demand sessions and webinars organized by Salesforce, Meghan urges women in technology to be aware of the narratives they build for themselves. She believes in fostering a culture of confidence and resilience for women in the IT sector.

4. Melissa Shepard

Melissa Shepard is a 37-times certified Salesforce Certified Technical Architect with over two decades of experience in the technology industry. She has a consulting firm where she provides expert guidance on Salesforce implementations. As an enthusiast for diversity in tech, Melissa stated that a nonprofit organization called ScaleUp Archs is dedicated to helping underrepresented groups become Salesforce Architects. Through this, she offers training, mentorship and resources to people who want to become an architect in Salesforce. She remains actively involved in multiple architect community groups, continually giving back and sharing her expertise to uplift others. 

5. Shalaya Shipman

After she served as the senior director of strategic business development for small businesses, Shalay Shipman successfully acquired the position of senior director of product marketing – data cloud at Salesforce. She manages Data Cloud’s activation initiatives, which include community engagement, brand development, demand generation, and customer marketing. Her primary goal is to assist Black and Latinx-owned small-to-medium companies (SMBs) by working across the organization to create ecosystems that foster their growth. The motivation for this goal is profoundly rooted in her desire to close the racial wealth gap and promote economic development in underserved areas. Shalaya’s initiatives generate noteworthy change while providing resources to diverse entrepreneurs to prosper in today’s economy.

6. Neha Nagori

Another name on this list is Neha Nagori, a Salesforce Certified Technical Architect and Co-Founder of Cloudearly. She has a decade of experience architecting and implementing solutions on the Salesforce Platform. Her clients trust Neha based on her technical expertise and strategic vision for her advisory. She is a dedicated Architect who delivers tailored, innovative solutions that drive business growth and value. Neha’s commitment, passion and leadership qualities are best reflected through her role at Cloudearly. Her contributions are not limited to her professional role, as she actively engages in community initiatives to mentor aspiring Salesforce professionals.

7. Desiree Motamedi

With over two decades of marketing experience, Desiree Motamedi is the Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer for the Next Gen Platform at Salesforce. She leads the vision and strategy for emerging platforms on Salesforce. Desiree was the Vice President and Global Head of Product Marketing at Shopify prior to joining Salesforce, where she was instrumental in increasing product awareness and adoption. Her time at Meta involved developing the Workplace brand and pipeline. At the same time, she helped build a flourishing developer community at Google. Desiree continues to impact the Salesforce ecosystem by sharing her ideas through blogs and thought leadership and contributing to the more extensive marketing and tech communities.

8. Denise Dresser

Slack is a subsidiary of Salesforce, and Denise Dresser heads the organization as CEO. With over 20 years of experience in tech, Denise has worked with many of the world’s largest and most innovative companies. At Slack and as a part of Salesforce, she leads a team of Slack technologists, product innovators, marketers, communicators, and customer success professionals. The agenda of this team is to make the product more straightforward and more productive for its users. Besides spearheading this dynamic team, Denise also participates in educational webinars through Salesforce to spread awareness about Slack and its capabilities.

9. Louise Lockie

With 23 certifications and a decade of experience, Louise Lockie is a reputed Salesforce MVP Hall of Fame member. She leads the London Salesforce Women in Tech Community Group. She is a co-organizer of London’s Calling, a community-led conference. That is not all; she is also an independent consultant, architect, and instructor. She develops her training resources to empower individuals and organizations and helps them maximize their use of Salesforce. Louise inspires through her speaker sessions at events like Dreamforce and World Tour. This showcases her commitment to sharing knowledge and fostering growth within the Salesforce ecosystem.

10. Guilda Hilaire

Last but not least, on our list of inspiring female Salesforce influencers is Guilda Hilaire. She is the Director of Product Marketing for Marketing Cloud at Salesforce and has over 20 years of experience. Guilda is an expert in digital marketing operations, platform migration, implementation, and consulting. Guilda is a recognized digital marketing thought leader and Trailblazer evangelist. She regularly contributes to the Salesforce community in her capacity, giving insights on issues such as generative AI in email marketing and recognizing marketing champions. Guilda’s commitment to empowering marketers and developing the business is evident from her thought leadership and community involvement.

Wrapping Up

Wrapping up this list, we hope these women inspire you to tap into your full potential and step up as a woman in tech. They are experts in their domain and motivate others to achieve similar heights in their careers. Their contribution as Salesforce influencers is unparalleled and deserves appreciation. Take your first step to change the narrative in tech with these influential minds! Happy International Women’s Day!