User:Ks1793/Ime Archibong

Ime Archibong (born January 1, 1982) is an American businessperson. He is the Vice President of Product Management and Head of Messenger Product at Meta Platforms. He is one of the highest-ranking Black executives at Meta. In 2015, The Registry recognized him as one of the 40 Under 40: Tech Diversity in Silicon Valley.

Early life and education
Ime Archibong was born on January 1, 1982 in Kansas City, Kansas. His parents are university professors and first-generation immigrants from Nigeria. They lived in North Carolina for most of his upbringing.

Archibong has described how his parents wanted for him to become a doctor or a lawyer. In an interview with Fast Company, Archibong told Nikita Richardson:

Archibong attended Yale University, where he double-majored in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and obtained his Bachelor of Science degree. He was on Yale’s varsity basketball team from 1999 to 2003, where he was team captain and played the position of shooting guard.
 * We couldn’t see what the pragmatic outcome was of going and getting a computer science degree. Or going and getting an engineering degree. And it’s not that the stories weren’t being told, but the stories weren’t being told with people that looked like me and resonated with me.

After starting off his career at IBM, Archibong attended business school at Stanford University. There, he obtained his Master of Business Administration degree.

IBM
Archibong decided on a career in tech after his undergrad. He worked as a software engineer for IBM in the Systems Technology Group in Tucson, AZ, where he “worked on storage systems and servers.” He discovered that his interests lie in the business and strategy aspects of a company and shifted his goals. He pursued his MBA and obtained roles in Corporate Strategy and Advanced Technology Business Development at IBM.

Meta
In 2010, Archibong left IBM and joined the Facebook team as VP of Product Partnerships. His first role at the company was in leading a global team that would build partnerships with various business partners.

Archibong has spearheaded Facebook’s New Product Experimentation division since its launch in 2019. The team is tasked with creating new apps for Meta. According to CNBC, Archibong is revered by his higher-ups at Meta, including Mark Zuckerberg, for his ability to innovate. “For nearly a decade, Zuckerberg has turned to Archibong anytime he’s come up with ideas for special projects at Facebook.“

He helped create Internet.org, a product of Meta and an initiative that plans to connect the world to the internet.

As of March 2023, Archibong holds the titles of Vice President of Product Management and Head of Product at Messenger.

Other projects
He is a member of the Board of Directors at Capital one. Also, he is “a listed inventor on more than a dozen patents.“

Archibong is on the team of several nonprofit organizations, including Grace Science Foundation, Unreasonable, Live In Peace, GLIDE, and Girl Effect.

Activism
In 2016, Archibong participated in the Presidential Leadership Scholars program, which aimed to “help some of the most promising leaders in America reach their potential and create positive change.“

During the uprising of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Archibong spoke to the Facebook team on his experience as a Black man in America. He notably made public posts on his personal Facebook regarding the same. He was considered the “unofficial leader” of the Black employee base.

Archibong has played a role in several nonprofit organizations, including Management Leadership for Tomorrow, which focus on increasing diversity in the tech industry and on supporting underserved professionals.

He has used his position at Meta to push for diversity and inclusion. He played a role in creating a resource group for Black employees and the Black Community Summit, a two-day event held for the company’s Black employees. Currently, he has a team working on products that focus on racial justice.