Recap: Latinas in Tech Dinner @ Netflix
By Vianni Busquets // Photos by Simpson Yiu, Netflix
The 2018 Latinas in Tech Dinner @ Netflix took place on September 6 at Netflix’s headquarters in Los Gatos, California. Thirty Latina business influencers working in the tech industry convened for an evening of networking and candid conversation following a powerful panel featuring six Netflix leaders who spoke on bringing their authentic self into the workplace, and how they think about diversity & inclusion.
Netflix’s VP of Consumer Insights Adrien Lanusse moderated the panel, which featured: Angelica Elizondo, manager of global platform partner marketing; Carenina Motion, technical program manager; Monica F. Naegeli, manager of regulatory compliance; Diana Pena Alas, accountant of finance operations; and Yvette Rodriguez, director of talent acquisition
The panel touched on a variety of topics, including how the Netlfix’s culture challenges them, how the company has benefited from hiring them and other Latinas, and how to build a pipeline of diverse leaders. Below are some of the conversation’s highlights.
Carenina Motion on being direct with her boss
Over time, I’ve learned that I don’t do well with negative guidance. I do a lot better when I’m told, “You did these things really great. I want you to do more of that,” and not really the reprimanding piece. Because then I tend to focus on it, and go in a spiral and all that.
Talking to my boss at Netflix, I said, “Hey, I’ve told my last few bosses about this, and maybe it’s helped, maybe it hasn’t, but I do really well with positive reinforcement on things that you see work well.”
My bosses previously would’ve been like, “Oh okay. Great, thanks.” But here, it’s been, “Oh, really? Tell me more. Why? Do you have examples? How can I do better with that news?” There is this curiosity about wanting to pull more out of that in order to do a better job and better understand me as a person.
Monica F. Naegeli on how Netflix’s culture helps her grow
For me, you don’t ever get comfortable. I perceive comfortable as I’m not really being pushed and challenged, and that’s not a place where I want to be. So culture helps me grow. I see it as an opportunity to not only stretch myself, but also other team members.
We’re hiring all over the world. What I usually see is that people tend to put themselves within the little box. “I speak the language, I’ll go there.” And there’s so much opportunity that we’re leaving out and not even approaching. I got reprimanded for hiring way too many Latinas, Brazilians for areas of the business that do not require another language. That’s a plus that they can do that and other things. So, find me somebody better and I’ll hire them.
Angelica Elizondo on creating access for the next generation of leaders
I love this notion of meritocracy, it’s lovely, but we’re not there. We live in the real world, and the real world doesn’t provide the same access. When you think about whomever had access to the entry-level roles twenty to thirty years ago, that made them the right candidate as they come up the ranks for an executive role. So, when you’re looking for executives, they all look and talk and belong to a certain demographic.
We’ll continue to make strides there, but I think every moment we have now we need to create access for the next generation, to be intentional about the mid and executive levels. That’s what we have to do because we need to understand that while we want it to be a meritocracy, there’s access that needs to be provided equally. Then maybe we can talk about the merit cap. Maybe that’s when we will actually see the meritocracy number.
The event concluded with an intimate roundtable dinner which brought together leaders from Salesforce, Facebook, Google, Lyft, PayPal, and more. Photos of the event can be found on our Facebook page.
For members who attended the Latinas in Tech Dinner @ Netflix, you can find the attendee list on The Alumni Society app within the Member Hub.
