Merissa Sadler-Holder is an educator, consultant, and two-time recipient of ASU+GSV’s Leading Women in AI award (2024, 2025). With thirteen years of classroom experience as a French teacher and teacher leader, she brings authentic, classroom-tested perspective to conversations about AI in education. She founded Teaching with Machines, a consulting platform supporting educators and districts in thoughtful, practical AI integration—moving beyond compliance to genuine pedagogical shift.
Merissa holds a master’s degree in e-learning and currently works with Orange County Department of Education on AI initiatives. Her approach is grounded in a simple truth: AI isn’t about replacing teachers or automating learning. It’s about freeing teachers to do the work that machines cannot—creating meaning, building relationships, and helping students think. She’s known for her pragmatism, her refusal to hype, and her conviction that when educators find their authentic voice in an AI-enabled world, everything changes. Her 11:11 wish: education returning to learning for its own sake, not grades as means to an end.
