Lisa Jiang W’08

Open to having a discussion with a small group of interested students, so email Eunice Chong (chonge@wharton.upenn.edu) to get connected with Lisa Jiang.

What did you study at Penn and when did you graduate? 

I graduated in 2008 with concentrations in marketing and management.

What were you involved with as an undergraduate?

I started the Social Impact Consulting Group, which is a club that provides pro-bono consulting services to local Philadelphia non-profits and international organizations. I was also a Joseph Wharton Scholar and served on the JWS board. Additionally, I was the president of Big Brothers Big Sisters.  

What advice do you wish you had known when you were an undergraduate?

I wish I was more exploratory and took advantage of my summers to try different things. It’s okay to not know what you want to do for a career path and to deviate from traditional careers in finance. Although consulting and banking internships and jobs offer analytical skills, they don’t always provide the full picture of what it means to be successful in building a company or leading a team. 

What internships/jobs did you have during your time at Penn?

The summer after my freshman year I was a Marketing intern at Coca-Cola and worked on the Coke Zero launch team. During my sophomore summer, I worked at Goldman Sachs in private wealth management. During my junior summer, I opted out of a consulting offer and instead chose a less-traveled path (at the time) as an intern at Google as part of their Business Operations team. 

Can you walk me through your career path post-grad?

After interning at Google, I realized I loved working in tech; I was constantly working on new problems, exposed to diverse subject matter, and was ultimately working to define peoples’ experiences. I also really enjoyed the West Coast culture, which wasn’t very hierarchical and more ideas-based. I worked on a variety of projects in the product marketing, strategy and operations, and product management departments at Google for 6 years in the California, Tokyo, and New York offices.

While at Google, I volunteered at a digital literacy nonprofit in New York and became fascinated with the intersection of education and technology. I decided to pursue a Master’s in Education, as well as an MBA, at Stanford University and graduated in 2016. 

I then joined an ed-tech startup called The Flatiron School, which helps people looking to switch into careers in software development, data science, and cybersecurity. I led the product management and design team and partnered closely with the engineering department to build the learning platform that enabled the learning experience.

After working there for 4 years, I recently took a position at Facebook as the Head of Remote Learning, which is where I am now. This role was very much inspired by COVID-19, and I work to deliver remote learning and development to a workforce of 50,000 people. Mark Zuckerberg has said that he wants to build the most remote forward organization at this scale. It’s been great having access to FaceBook’s resources, such as Messenger, Portal, and potentially Oculus (AR & VR), to cultivate remote learning experiences at this scale. 

What has been the biggest challenge and proudest accomplishment of your career?

The biggest challenge has been realizing that not everything can be planned out. Along with the culture at Penn, especially Wharton, and being Asian-American, I always wanted to be thoughtful and plan ahead for everything; I had to learn how to let go of that. 

Throughout my time at Penn and career, I’ve had many mentors who have helped me by giving advice and sponsoring me. As I’ve gotten older and become a mentor myself, I’ve been able to pay it forward and enable others to grow. I’m the proudest watching my mentees succeed. 

How has being a woman affected your career trajectory, if it has?

Working in tech, I’ve often been the only female and person of color. I’ve been lucky that my male counterparts have been supportive and enabled me to fully utilize the platform I have. However, I was always conscious of the little things; for example, I was more intentional about how I communicated and put extra effort into my slides. 

I am a mother to a 10-month baby and have also had to learn how to balance my career in a way that makes sense for my family and provides me with happiness. Before having a baby, I could give unlimited energy to my job, but I’ve now had to set more boundaries and recalibrate so I can give to the other parts of my life. 

When I had my baby, I took full parental leave, even as someone in a more senior, leadership role. I did so not only because I knew it would be beneficial for me and my family, but I also wanted to serve as a model for younger employees. 

What advice do you have for our members as they begin exploring careers and internships? 

At Penn, you can meet many people from various walks of life- take advantage of that and expose yourself to the diverse types of opportunities that are available. Truly think about what brings you happiness and what topics and industries you gravitate towards when you consume media. It’s easy to look at the alums who come back 2-3 years out of Penn and think that everyone works in finance, but recognize that if you talk to alumni 5+ years out of school, a lot of people have moved on to more diverse, interesting roles.