Tech Inclusion 2019 Speaker Spotlight: Mary Farrow, Product Manager at Lyft
By Antonia Ford
Mary Farrow is an enthusiastic supporter of the robot revolution and loves to build machines that make people’s lives better. Currently a Data & ML Platform PM at Lyft, Mary started her product management career at Intuit. Prior to that, Mary was an Ph.D. researcher in protein engineering at Caltech, a startup founder, and a data scientist. She joined colleagues at Lyft for the panel, “Equity of Opportunity: Removing Obstructions for Different Paths to Converge” at Tech Inclusion 2019 in San Francisco.
Change Catalyst: What does equity mean to you? Why does it matter in the tech industry?
Mary Farrow: I believe equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. This is not the same as giving everyone the same things. In the tech industry we have a very narrow understanding of what success looks like. I believe those that do not fit that mold are often not given what they need to succeed, largely because their needs are poorly understood by those in a position to help.
CC: What does empowerment feel like for you?
MF: Empowerment to me means room to fail and the psychological safety to take risks. In order to feel empowered, I need to know that I won’t be punished for trying new things. For underrepresented people in tech, there can be a feeling that you only have one chance to prove yourself and succeed, and this feeling can lead to an aversion to risk taking. Because we grow by trying and learning from our mistakes, following a “safe” path means we can miss important opportunities to grow professionally.
CC: What do you look for in an ally? Optional: Can you give an example of when someone has been an ally to you in the past?
MF: An ally is anyone that sees me and advocates on my behalf. This can mean giving me space to talk in a meeting, acknowledging that I’m the one who first spoke up with that good idea, sending positive feedback about me to my manager, or nominating me for leadership opportunities. I have had different allies do all of these things for me and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them.
CC: What are you doing to create a culture of inclusion at Lyft?
MF: I’m leading a variety of programs at Lyft to foster diversity and inclusion. The majority of these programs focus either on outreach to enlarge our pool of diverse candidates, or on opportunities to support underrepresented people once they join the company.
CC: What is one fun tech item that you recently discovered?
MF: As a product manager, task management is a big part of my job. I just discovered a new task management tool called Notion that seems really cool.
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