As vice president of the Worldwide Public Sector Division at Microsoft Corp., Ralph Young provides leadership to Microsoft’s global sales initiatives in the government, education and healthcare arenas. This business unit encompasses seven of Microsoft’s 10 largest customers and provides global strategy for the company’s sales force, driving its mission to align innovative technology solutions with customer needs.

Young helps lead a 2,000-member team dedicated to enabling government agencies, schools and healthcare providers to harness the power of technology to deliver citizen-centered public services, empower students to realize their potential and improve health outcomes for patients. He also manages marketing, engagement programs and partnerships across the group. He is responsible for executing the Connected Industry Framework, the division’s strategy for delivering Microsoft infrastructure and business process platforms, augmented by cross-industry and industry-specific solutions, to its customers. Young oversees the Worldwide Public Sector’s efforts to bring together heads of state through Global Leadership Forums for government, defense and education with an aim to help evolve the role of technology in social and economic development. He is a member of Microsoft’s External Disaster Recovery Board, the Partner Leadership team, and serves as an executive sponsor for Microsoft Russia and NATO.

Young brings to the role more than 20 years of experience in information technology sales, strategy and operations. He began his career with Microsoft in 1998 as general manager of sales and marketing for TransPoint, a joint venture comprising Microsoft, First Data Corp. and Citibank that helped pioneer the Internet bill delivery and payment business. Most recently, he held the position of vice president of the Western U.S. for Microsoft, overseeing the company’s business relationships with enterprise customers throughout the region. Previously, he was vice president of Microsoft’s Enterprise Sales Strategy Group, in which capacity he led the worldwide enterprise sales strategy.

Before joining Microsoft, Young was executive vice president of sales, marketing and business planning for telecommunications startup AccessLine Technologies Inc., before which he rose through the ranks at Tandem Computers (now HP) to become vice president, North American communications.

Young holds an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University and a bachelor of arts in business management and psychology from Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, Ohio. He and his family reside in Washington.