As data science director at Meta, Eduardo Weinstein leads a team of data scientists to bring value to platforms like Facebook and Instagram. He also is an advocate for the Latino community both inside and outside of work, aiming to build connections and support others as they aim to see success in their careers.
Weinstein shares those efforts with The Alumni Society in addition to how his family has shaped his identity, the strong employee culture at Meta, the meaning of mentorship and more.
What do you do today?
I am a data science director at Meta, and I work on the Business Experiences team. In this role I lead a team of fifty-plus data scientists, whose mission is to deliver value for businesses on the Meta platforms (e.g., Facebook, Instagram).
What was your biggest professional accomplishment over the past year?
Last year, I was working in the Trust and Safety space at Meta, so my biggest professional accomplishment was all the work and impact that we had around empowering businesses to create trustworthy connections with people and communities, e.g., enforcing policies that help protect people and businesses and delivering a more trustworthy shopping experience. All those accomplishments were the results of many cross-functional teams, such as engineers, product, data engineers, etc.
How has your identity and your connection to your culture evolved as your career has progressed?
My identity has been strongly shaped by my family story. My family moved to Chile as they were escaping the religious persecutions in Western Europe at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, I think that they passed on to me very strong values around working hard and respecting every human being.
These values have been key to my identity and my career, and I would like to think that I have been able to keep them intact as my career has progressed.
At the personal level, when I first became a father four years ago, I feel that I became closer to Latin culture (e.g., language, food, sports). Now I do feel the responsibility to transmit the culture to my kids.
What community involvement is important for you outside of your role? How have you seen your own community change during your career?
At Meta, I am one of the co-leads of a Latin ERG group within our organization. This has been a great experience as it has allowed me to learn from junior colleagues and build bridges with Latin employees in roles that normally I don’t partner with. I’ve also had the opportunity to coach some of them, as Meta’s employee culture is a place where fostering growth and professional community are a priority. Outside of work, I am one of the co-presidents of the Harvard Business School Latino Alumni Association, which has been a great experience and given me the opportunity to advocate for the Latin community.
The biggest change that I have seen in the Latin community in the US during the last fifteen years is the growing awareness of the contributions and struggles of Latins and how that has led to the creation of more organized groups that advocate for them, particularly inside big corporations.
The theme of this year’s Leadership Summit is Conexión: a reminder of the cultural connection that bonds Latinos and a call to embrace the exponential power we wield when we move as one. What does conexión mean to you and how has it helped you in your life and career?
For me, connecting means creating a strong emotional bond, and I think that is one of the key levers that we have as a community to drive and succeed. In my career, being able to connect to people with similar backgrounds has allowed me to gain insights that would have been hard to get from someone without that shared experience.
This is the first generation of Latinos who have the potential to see people that look like them in virtually every kind of role and leadership position. Many of us, and those who came before us, had to make our own way and find mentors who may not have shared our experiences. What does mentorship mean to you and how are you passing your own experiences forward?
Mentorship means having someone who you fully trust committed to your development. Of course, this can take different shapes, but the successful relationships I have experienced have all had the following elements:
- It’s a two-way street relationship both the mentee and the mentor need to be committed.
- There is an investment component, which is measured in time.
- The advice you receive might not be what you wanted to hear, but it can be the “brutal truth” that nobody is willing to tell you and will help advance your career.
Personally, I have been very lucky to have many great mentors during my career at Google and at Meta. That is one of the reasons why I try to pay it forward and why I have mentored so many people at the companies. At Meta, we also have a great formal program that has allowed me to mentor junior colleagues in the Latin community in a structured way with the support of HR.
