Ifeoma Ozoma facts for kids

Ifeoma Ozoma (born in 1991 or 1992) is an American expert in public policy. She also works to make sure that people are treated fairly in the technology industry. After working at Pinterest for two years, Ozoma left her job. She then spoke out about unfair treatment and racial discrimination she said she experienced there.

After leaving Pinterest, she started her own consulting company called Earthseed. She has worked hard to support new laws that protect whistleblowers. Whistleblowers are people who report wrongdoing in a company. She also advocates for other ways to protect workers in the tech world. Today, she is a director at the University of California, LA Center on Race and Digital Justice.

Her important work has been recognized by magazines like The Root and Time.

Early life and education

Ifeoma Ozoma grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, and Raleigh, North Carolina. Her parents moved to the United States from Nigeria. She went to high school at Choate Rosemary Hall. This is a private boarding school in Connecticut that prepares students for college. In 2015, she earned a degree in political science from Yale University.

Career and advocacy

After finishing college, Ozoma joined Google in Washington, D.C., in 2015. There, she worked on public policy and helped the company connect with the government. She then spent two years at Facebook in Silicon Valley. At Facebook, she worked on international relations.

Working at Pinterest

Ozoma joined Pinterest in 2018. She was part of a new team focused on public policy and making a positive impact. While at Pinterest, she helped lead a big decision. Pinterest stopped promoting former slave plantations as wedding places. This decision was widely praised. She also worked on important topics like medical misinformation. She helped Pinterest create a rule to ban content that was against vaccinations.

While working at Pinterest, Ozoma spent a year trying to get a pay raise. She felt her pay should match what other colleagues with similar jobs and experience earned. She even hired a lawyer to help her discuss her job title and pay.

Ozoma suggested that Pinterest add a warning to posts by Ben Shapiro. He is a conservative political commentator. She described him as someone who supports "white supremacist" ideas. After this, a colleague worked with a right-wing group to share Ozoma's private information online. This is called doxing. They published her personal phone number, name, and photos on extremist websites. Ozoma then started receiving threats. Pinterest did not help her remove the information. They also did not punish the employee who was responsible.

Ozoma was already upset with Pinterest's "dangerously inadequate" response to the doxing. She was also frustrated that her efforts to get a raise were not working. The final issue was when a manager criticized her in a performance review. This criticism was about the words she used in the wedding venue policy. In May 2020, Ozoma resigned from her job. She also filed a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH). She later reached an agreement with Pinterest.

Ozoma started talking publicly about her experiences in June 2020. She did this even though she had signed an agreement not to share company information. She spoke out after Pinterest said they supported Black lives. She felt their support was not genuine, especially after the George Floyd protests and Black Lives Matter movement. Along with her colleague Aerica Shimizu Banks, who also resigned and filed a complaint, Ozoma publicly stated she was paid unfairly at Pinterest. They also said they faced punishment for asking for changes. Both women said the work environment was unfriendly and unfair to Black women. In August 2020, Pinterest employees held a walkout. They protested how the company treated women, especially women of color.

Ozoma and Banks each received less than a year of severance pay when they left. A few months later, Françoise Brougher, Pinterest's former chief operating officer, received a large payment. This was part of a lawsuit she filed about gender discrimination against the company. Other people in the tech industry, including Timnit Gebru, criticized Pinterest. They saw a racist difference in how the company treated Ozoma and Banks compared to Brougher, who is white. The Guardian newspaper said that Ozoma and Banks had "laid the groundwork" for others at the company, including Brougher, to speak out. Ozoma said Brougher's settlement felt like a "slap in the face."

In November 2021, Pinterest settled a lawsuit filed by the Employees' Retirement System of Rhode Island. This lawsuit claimed that company leaders allowed a harmful culture of discrimination. The lawsuit was based on the claims made by Ozoma and Banks. The settlement set aside $50 million for efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at the company.

After leaving Pinterest, Ozoma started Earthseed. This is a consulting firm that focuses on fairness in the tech industry.

Silenced No More Act

Ozoma helped create California's Silenced No More Act. This law protects employees who speak about unfair treatment or discrimination. It protects them even if they have signed a non-disclosure agreement. A non-disclosure agreement is a legal paper that says you won't share certain information. Ozoma and Senator Connie Leyva wrote this bill. The California State Assembly passed it. Governor Gavin Newsom signed it into law in October 2021. It became active on January 1, 2022.

In late 2021, Ozoma inspired Chelsey Glasson. Glasson was a former Google employee who sued for pregnancy discrimination. Ozoma also worked with Cher Scarlett. Scarlett was a former Apple software engineer and worker activist. She had led the #AppleToo movement. Together, they worked to bring a similar bill to Washington state. This bill became law in March 2022. Both Google and Apple have promised to follow Silenced No More protections for all their employees.

Apple shareholder proposal

In September 2021, Ozoma, a non-profit group called Open MIC, and two investment firms, Whistle Capital and Nia Impact Capital, made a suggestion to Apple. This is called a shareholder proposal because they own shares (parts) of the company. The group asked Apple to check the risks of using non-disclosure agreements. They were concerned about agreements given to employees who had experienced unfair treatment or discrimination.

This suggestion came after Ozoma and Nia had informally asked Apple to add a statement to employee agreements. This statement would say that employees were allowed to talk about "unlawful acts in the workplace, such as harassment or discrimination." Apple refused. They said their Business Conduct Policy already covered this.

On October 18, 2021, Apple sent a no-action response to the shareholder proposal to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Apple claimed they do not use the types of secret agreements that Nia was talking about.

On November 22, 2021, Nia responded to Apple and the SEC. They stated that they had "received information, confidentially provided, that Apple has sought to use concealment clauses in the context of discrimination, harassment, and other workplace labor violation claims." Scarlett later said she was the one who gave Nia this information. On December 21, 2021, the SEC decided against Apple's filing. This was a victory for the activists. Eight United States treasurers asked the SEC to investigate. Shareholders voted to approve the audit proposal on March 4, 2022. Apple released the audit results in December 2022. They promised not to enforce parts of agreements that might stop a person from talking about "unlawful conduct."

The Tech Worker Handbook

In October 2021, Ozoma launched The Tech Worker Handbook. She worked with groups like Omidyar Network, The Signals Network, and Lioness to create it. It is a website with free information for tech workers. It helps them decide if they should speak out about issues that are important to the public. The handbook guides workers through what they might face in legal processes. It also explains how to talk to the media. It gives information on how to handle physical and security concerns. The handbook includes stories and advice from other tech whistleblowers.

Recognition

Ifeoma Ozoma was included in The Root's 2021 "The Root 100." This is a yearly list of the most influential African Americans in different fields.

Time magazine recognized Ozoma in 2022 on its Time 100 Next list. She was also honored as one of the BBC 100 Women in the same year.

Personal life

Ozoma lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

See also

In Spanish: Ifeoma Ozoma para niños

• Timnit Gebru
• Sophie Zhang
• Claire Stapleton
• Chanin Kelly-Rae