TheBridge profile: Ifeoma Ozoma
Name: Ifeoma Ozoma
Current city: Santa Fe, NM
Current job: Founder and Principal at Earthseed
Past job: Directing Global Public Policy Engagement & US State Public Policy at Pinterest; Public Policy at Facebook and Google
Ifeoma recently spoke up against race & gender discrimination at Pinterest, her former employer. We encourage you to learn more about Ifeoma’s story on Twitter, and sign the pledge to protect Black Women and Girls here.
Q. Describe how a skill you learned in a previous job helped you in your current job. Leading cross-functional (and external) projects with very little guidance, and then providing clarity and direction for my colleagues is something I learned at Google and honed at Facebook. Representing my work at Pinterest internationally and across different media types was invaluable in building my network and experience with managing press.
Q. Job advice in three words? Integrity above all.
Q. Why are you part of TheBridge community? Why do you think it's important this community exists for tech, policy and political professionals? This community has always been valuable, but during the pandemic it has been a connection to fellow professionals that no longer exists in the form of in person gatherings and meetings. I'm so happy to be part of it and excited to watch it grow!
Q. How are you (or your company, org, nonprofit) currently bridging the gap between innovation and regulation? Gaps that exist are often the result of a lack (or breakdown) of communication between industry and policymakers - and so an open line in the form of honest, regular engagement is a great way to create and maintain "bridges.”
Q. What can innovators learn from policymakers? Hopefully, the needs and desires of constituents who also make up the audience of those innovators.
Q. What can policymakers learn from innovators? Hopefully, exactly what "one size doesn't fit all" means.
Q. Favorite spot for a coffee meeting? I'm not meeting people for any beverages during pandemic, but once things are better, I can't wait for tea at Cafe Fina.
Q. Favorite book/podcast/long-form article you recommend? Audiobooks are my favorite way to consume books, since I'm often on the go. My favorite recent read/listen is Circe by Madeline Miller. I'm also currently re-reading The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler - it's darkly perfect for our time.
Q. Last time you were completely unplugged? Whew, not at all so far in the year 2020. I'm looking forward to some unplugged hiking and camping after my German Shepherd puppy comes home at the end of July!
Q. How do you unwind after work? Since moving to Santa Fe, gardening has been my way to unwind. Well, that and figuring out how to keep the many animals on my property from eating all of my seedlings!
Q. Best advice you’ve received? Recent advice from the poet Maggie Smith: "You don't have to have it all figured out to move forward...Think of yourself as an apprentice, learning as you live. Keep moving."
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