Naomi Gleit

Naomi Gleit
Naomi Gleit sitting and gesturing with her hands during a talk
Naomi Gleit in 2022
TitleHead of product at Meta Platforms

Naomi Gleit is head of product at Meta, formerly Facebook.[1] She was previously the vice president of social good, growth, engagement, and identity at the company.[2][3][4][5] She has been identified as Meta's longest-serving employee after CEO Mark Zuckerberg, having been at the company from July 18, 2005 to present.[2][6][7]

Early life and education

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Gleit was born to an Asian-American mother and a Jewish father and was raised in New York City. She described her mother as a "tiger mom" who ferried her to ballet, piano, karate and Chinese lessons. Her father was an immigration lawyer by profession who took her to Hebrew school growing up.[2] Gleit has spoken extensively about how her identity as a half-Asian, half-Jewish woman has shaped her life, stating that:[8]

"I have permission to say what is true for me: I am not half, I am whole. I identify with my mom and my dad, and instead of being half of each, I am fully both."

Gleit majored in Science, Technology, and Society at Stanford University, where she wrote her senior thesis on Facebook, and how it beat out rival social networking service Club Nexus at Stanford University (the creator of Club Nexus would later go on to create Orkut).[2][9]

Career

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Gleit has spent her entire career at Meta.[3][7]

After writing her senior thesis about Facebook, Gleit was bullish on Facebook's potential and applied to work there. She began work as a marketing associate and helping with administrative duties[7] on July 18, 2005, which was also her birthday. She came on board shortly after the company had hit 1 million users.[2] In her role, Gleit promoted Facebook beyond colleges and to high schools, facilitating the eventual opening up of Facebook to all users.[2]

In 2007, Zuckerberg asked Gleit to become a product manager for the growth team, and she accepted.[2] The growth team was led by Chamath Palihapitiya.[3] In 2009, Gleit, describing her job to Newsweek, said "My job isn't done until literally everyone in the world is on the site."[10]

Gleit was part of the team that worked on and released Facebook Safety Check in 2014, inspired by people's use of social media to connect with friends and family in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.[3][11][12] Putting this initiative in a broader context, Gleit later told Fast Company: "[Zuckerberg] wants us to take this data-driven, product-driven approach and apply that to other problems because it’s not unique, per se, to growth."[3] As of 2017, Gleit continued to be in charge of Facebook Safety Check.[3]

At the Social Good Summit in New York City on September 27, 2015, Gleit announced that Facebook was creating a team dedicated to social good.[13][14] Gleit's title changed to vice president for social good.[3][12]

Under Gleit's leadership, Facebook, in 2016 and 2017, rolled out support for Fundraisers, including nonprofits fundraising for themselves, as well as individuals setting up fundraisers for personal causes and nonprofits they want to support.[3][15][16][17][18][19] Gleit also led Facebook's efforts to team up with other social good efforts, such as Chimehack, a partnership with Gucci and Global Citizen.[5] In 2024, Gold House recognized her as one of the most impactful Asian.[20]

Gleit subsequently became head of product at Facebook, which had rebranded to Meta in 2021.[1]

Gleit serves on the board of The Primary School, serving children and their families in East Palo Alto.[21]

References

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  1. ^ a b "Naomi Gleit, Head of Product". Meta. Archived from the original on 2022-11-06. Retrieved 2022-11-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Guynn, Jessica (December 22, 2012). "Naomi Gleit helps keep Facebook growing. The senior director of Facebook's growth, engagement and mobile team has seen the social network grow to more than 1 billion users today from 1 million in 2005". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "How Facebook Used Science And Empathy To Reach Two Billion Users. Facebook's growth team has a methodical approach to understanding what new users want, and a surprisingly broad mandate". Fast Company. June 27, 2017. Retrieved July 9, 2017.
  4. ^ Nishi, Dennis (May 17, 2012). "The Made Women of Facebook. Five women who are going to have a hell of a weekend". DAME. Retrieved October 30, 2018.
  5. ^ a b Blaha, Jenna (September 2, 2016). "Inside Facebook's Big Plans for the Future. VP of Social Good Naomi Gleit on the company's mission to make over the world". Marie Claire. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  6. ^ "'Los Angeles Times' Profiles Naomi Gleit, Second-Most-Tenured Facebook Employee. It's no surprise that Facebook Co-Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has the most tenure of anyone at the social network, but who comes in second on that list? The Los Angeles Times profiled the answer to that question: Senior Director of the Growth, Engagement, and Mobile Team Naomi Gleit". Adweek. December 26, 2012. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  7. ^ a b c Shontell, Alyssa; Kosoff, Maya (May 30, 2015). "WHERE ARE THEY NOW: Meet Facebook's first 20 employees". Business Insider. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  8. ^ "Facebook VP Naomi Gleit explores what it's like to grow up fully both Asian and Jewish in America". news.yahoo.com. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 2021-08-13.
  9. ^ "Naomi Gleit: Product Manager, Growth". Lean In. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  10. ^ "Facebook at Age Five". Newsweek. July 21, 2009. Archived from the original on September 12, 2011. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  11. ^ Gleit, Naomi; Zeng, Sharon; Cottle, Peter (October 15, 2014). "Introducing Safety Check". Facebook. Retrieved April 27, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "How Facebook Is Transforming Disaster Response". Wired. November 10, 2016. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  13. ^ Figerman, Seth (September 27, 2015). "Facebook looks to assert itself as a force for social good". Mashable. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  14. ^ Thurston, Susan (October 8, 2015). "Facebook Now Has a Team Dedicated to Social Good". Business Administration Information. Retrieved July 23, 2017.
  15. ^ Perez, Sarah (March 30, 2017). "Facebook introduces personal fundraising tools, donate buttons in Facebook Live for Pages". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  16. ^ Petronzio, Matt (March 30, 2017). "Facebook's fundraisers now help you raise money for yourself and friends". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  17. ^ Balakrishnan, Anita (March 30, 2017). "Facebook moves into crowdfunding for emergencies". CNBC. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  18. ^ Perez, Sarah (May 24, 2017). "Facebook's personal fundraisers exit beta, now support raising money for sports teams & communities". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  19. ^ Gleit, Naomi (May 24, 2017). "Expanding Facebook Fundraisers to More People and Causes". Facebook. Retrieved July 18, 2017.
  20. ^ Thompson, Jack Dunn,Selena Kuznikov,Jazz Tangcay,Jaden; Dunn, Jack; Kuznikov, Selena; Tangcay, Jazz; Thompson, Jaden (2024-05-01). "Keanu Reeves, Jung Kook, Hayao Miyazaki Among Gold House's A100 Honorees". Variety. Retrieved 2024-05-21.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ "Naomi Gleit, Head of Product". Meta.
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