What happens when you find a job that leverages almost 30 years of experience in fulfillment of a lifelong personal mission? Misty Decker finds herself in exactly that position as the Program Manager of the Master the Mainframe contest. Since 1991, Misty has held a variety of technical, managerial and project management roles at IBM. Always eager to learn new things and attack new challenges, she has been a z/OS Release Manager, a Development Manager for IBM Z firmware, and led the IBM Z Customer Advocate program. A passion for students and education led her to join University Alliances, creating collaborative research opportunities between IBM and universities around the world including weather modelling, radio telescopes and medical records research. In the IBM Z Academic Initiative program, she worked with hundreds of schools to add technologies to the curriculum IBM clients needed most and ensuring students were connected to job opportunities. She currently manages the Master the Mainframe contest, known worldwide for broadening students’ perspective of the range of computing and providing them the credentials they need for top enterprise job opportunities. She has presented hundreds of times to high schools, universities and academic conferences, becoming known for her ability to explain complex technical concepts in ways that anyone can understand and her dedication to every student’s future.