Major: Sociology
Profession: Head of community at Remind, Inc., San Francisco
Hometown: Alameda, Calif.
What are you doing now?
After working at Google for five years, Pedraza became head of community at Remind, an education technology startup that provides a messaging app for schools. "I wear many hats in my role—business development, partnerships, marketing, product, and support," says Pedraza. Outside of work, Pedraza serves on the Pomona College Alumni Board and will be the president of the board as of 2016-17. She also leads Community for Xooglerpreneurs, a group of ~300 former Googlers who are involved with entrepreneurship as founders, consultants, or employees of startups over the world.
How did you get there?
"I didn't know education technology could be a career when I was at Pomona," says Pedraza. She was exposed to technology and learning projects through her campus roles as research assistant and student representative on various committees. Research fellowships at University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and UC Berkeley also exposed her to software applications and programming languages.
About a year after graduation, the Google for Education team recruited her to help universities and schools adopt technology. After five years at Google in different roles, she connected with Remind team member Emily McDonnell '09 at an Alumni in Tech event and decided to pursue a community role at Remind.
How did Pomona prepare you?
"Pomona gave me several mentors, skills and experiences that helped me break into education technology. For mentorship, that came from an Introduction to Sociology course with Professor Hung Thai. Prof. Thai has been my life coach—encouraging me to round out my skill-set and knowledge with qualitative and quantitative courses, research fellowships, and personal growth," says Pedraza.
She honed her writing, researching, critical thinking, speaking, presentation and interpersonal skills through courses, extracurricular activities (choir, jazz band, Office of Black Student Affairs mentor), jobs (student tech consultant, residence hall programmer), committees (Faculty Search Committees and Teaching and Learning Committee), and internships (research assistant with professors and research fellowships).
"At Pomona I gained more confidence and clarity on my world views and how to effectively express them in a variety of formats."
Where do you see yourself in five years?
"Probably joining an earlier stage education technology or social impact startup or starting one of my own," says Pedraza. "And also consulting schools, universities, and education/social impact organizations seeking to innovate and integrate technology to make a difference."
What advice do you have for students?
"It's all about relationships, skills, and experiences. For relationships, connect with as many students, faculty, and staff as possible. They will be your mentors, confidants, and referrals for future opportunities. They will be a sounding board for your goals, ideas, and questions. Reach out to faculty or staff that inspire you—take them to lunch or visit their office hours.
"For skills and experiences—take stock of what your strengths and areas for improvement are, and then identify how and where you can grow. If you're really great with writing/reading/speaking/interpersonal areas, then push yourself to take quantitative courses or projects. If you need leadership experience, volunteer, tutor and ask faculty or staff about being a student representative on committees or projects. Do jobs and internships during the school year and summers. Leverage the CDO, LinkedIn, and ask professors to connect you with alumni that are in careers or spaces you want to explore."