Creating Your Community – Starting or Seeking an Affinity Group

Thriving as women in product requires creating and elevating supportive spaces for all aspects of identity – especially for the intersectional identities of vulnerable groups within broader systemic marginalization. Learn what it takes to start or seek an affinity group with the founders of Latinas in Product and Black Women in Product, joined by WIP board member Ha Nguyen. We’ll hear from Latinas in Product founders Paz Zuniga, Senior Product Manager, Vista Higher Learning and Rosa Gonzalez Welton, Director of Product Management, Digital Product at ServiceNow, in a conversation with Black Women in Product’s Ngozi Ofoche, Reality Labs Privacy Product Strategist at Meta, and Yvette Lapompe, Director of Product at Premion.

📚 Learn:

• Why it’s important to honor your need to find people with common background

• Tactical tips and simple tools to get things done when starting out

• The importance of celebrating your progress as you build community – small wins are big wins

• How to evolve as a group changes in size, areas of interest, or range of backgrounds

• How all women in product can work to ensure the most vulnerable members are recognized, affirmed and empowered

🌎 After the group session, stick around!

You’ll be paired in timed 1:1 chats with other PMs also seeking deeper connections and support. Connect to examine your own identities and how they intersect – and understand where you might seek support in spaces that honor your intersectionality – or recognize and sponsor this need for others.

⏰ Meet Your Speakers and Affinity Groups:

Latinas in Product:

In 2021, a few Latinas in the audience for the virtual Women in Product Conference saw a speaker that looked like them, sounded like them, and told stories that resonated with their upbringing. That initial connection sparked the creation of a new group: Latinas in Product, a community of support, connection, and encouragement for Latinas in product management.

• Paz Zuniga is currently Senior Product Manager for K-12 at Vista Higher Learning, a language learning publisher. Paz is a D&I advocate focusing on increasing Latinx representation in tech across all levels. Paz lives in San Francisco and when she is not weight lifting, she is playing the floor is lava with her son.

• Rosa Welton is a Director of Product Management at Intuit, where she is responsible for Payroll Service Delivery. Rosa has deep experience scaling teams that build marketplace and eCommerce products, with stints in product management, strategy, and product marketing. Originally from Los Angeles, Rosa enjoys building and making deeper connections through dinner parties and hiking trips.

Black Women in Product:

Black Women in Product was founded in 2020 to address problems of inclusion in product – issues existing even within a larger gender-diversity initiative like Women In Product. Black Women in Product, created as a safe space for Black women and femmes working or interested in a Product-related role, serves to affirm individual and shared experiences, and empower representation of interests within the broader community.

• Ngozi Ofoche, founder of Black Women in Product and Reality Labs Privacy Product Strategist at Meta, is a product strategist, technologist, licensed attorney, and entrepreneur. Her mission is to foster innovation that is inclusive of law, policy, and ethics and curate experiences with responsible technology solutions.
• Yvette Lapompe, Director of Product at Premion, has more than 10 years of product experience and eight years within the ad tech space. Yvette joined Premion from Integral Ad Science, where she worked on publisher solutions for the past five years. Dedicated to building communities that foster Diversity and Inclusion, Yvette serves on committees both inside and outside of the workplace, including several of Cornell’s Alumni Organizations.

This event is hosted by Ha Nguyen, Women In Product board member, a mission-driven startup executive, investor, and community leader. Ha was most recently the Chief Experiences Officer at Swimply. Ha is a 16-year Silicon Valley product leader and a co-founding partner at Spero Ventures. Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Ha came to the USA as a refugee at age 2 when her parents fled communism. In addition to serving on the Board of Women In Product, Ha co-founded the Product Leader Summit, an invite-only conference bringing together founders and VP-level product leaders. Fun fact: Ha is also a tournament poker player who made the final table at the World Poker Tour (WPT).

⏰ About Product Blenders:

In our Product Blender series, Hosts and guests offer key tactics, techniques or actionable insights in a brief kickoff session. Zero fluff, no ‘housekeeping’ filler, no drawn out intros.

Speed Sessions are followed by timed paired 1:1 chats to practice or discuss with other PM peers. After each match, you’ll have the option to swap contacts with a click.

Blenders will close with a group debrief and Speaker Q&A – you’ll be able to get feedback on your 1:1 practice. Each event covers new skills and topics – we hope to see you at more than one!