How Ada’s work empowers Black creators and artists
Welcome to the latest edition of “My Path to Google,” where we talk to Googlers, interns and alumni about how they got to Google, what they do in their roles and how they prepared for their interviews.
Today’s post is all about Adrienne (Ada) Hopkins, a Strategic Partner Manager at YouTube and a tireless advocate for Black creatives.
What do you do at YouTube?
I’m a Strategic Partner Manager on YouTube’s Top Creators team, where I focus on amplifying and accelerating the growth of creators from underrepresented backgrounds. I also co-lead efforts to promote inclusion across YouTube’s partnerships, and work to strengthen the relationship between YouTube and aspiring Black creators, artists, executives and creative communities. I’m called to use technology to ensure creatives, particularly those most marginalized, are educated about the businesses they occupy, have equitable access to opportunity, are compensated for their gifts and have safe spaces to use their authentic voices.
Can you walk us through a typical work day?
Part of the reason I love my job is because no two days are the same — my time is dictated by what my creators need and the big ideas they imagine. What is consistent is the fact that most of my days are spent in meetings collaborating with our most influential creators, building YouTube’s approach to driving equity and inclusion in our partnerships (including how we show up authentically in cultural moments), imagining ways YouTube can invest in aspiring creators and serving our employee resource group, Black@YouTube.
What were you up to before YouTube?
If you told me I’d be working in tech 10 years post college graduation, I would have laughed you out of the room! After graduating from Stanford, I started my career in investment banking. However, I realized I needed more purpose, so I took a mini “sabbatical” to join a social enterprise in Nairobi, Kenya. That set me on a path of purpose-driven work that included a stint in social impact consulting, leadership development and philanthropy advising. I wanted to go deeper in this space, so I enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania for my MBA. During this time, I co-founded a social enterprise to bring plant-based, affordable food to low-income, food desert communities.