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.
