Voice over Internet Protocol, commonly known as VoIP, is the technology that allows us to use the internet to make phone calls — and if you've ever chatted long-distance over Skype or used Google Hangouts to connect with coworkers, you have Marian Croak to thank.
Croak joined AT&T in 1982 and developed the core technology that makes it possible to communicate through audio and video over the internet. Croak holds over 200 patents, including one for text-based donation services. It's true: Marian Croak is also the reason why we can now give money to charitable organisations just by texting a code. Croak left AT&T in 2014, and is now a vice president of engineering at Google, where she oversees reliability engineering for YouTube.