Gwen Chong
Project Manager at All About Waste- Claim this Profile
Click to upgrade to our gold package
for the full feature experience.
Topline Score
Bio
Emily Ma
Gwen Chong has the most tenacity of anyone I know. She has my full support and highest recommendation. Gwen joined my team in 2021 as a volunteer and then I was Gwen’s direct manager from February 2022 to January 2023, before Google’s 12,000 person layoff during which our entire team was eliminated without notice. In her six years at Google, Gwen served as a Hardware Technical Program Manager for Nest and then joined our team through the most creative path possible. Gwen was dogged in aligning her values to her day to day work. She volunteered to help drive our 2021 Food for All campaign as we made grants to 20 non-profit organization in food rescue and hunger relief. She then fully transferred to our team as our Senior Technical Program Manager. In the year I’ve had the pleasure working with Gwen, I’ve deeply appreciated and benefitted from her gentle and persistent program management. She guided our engineering team in their work and kept them accountable to operational deadlines, she organized a dozen external partners to contribute to our open source work, she oversaw our Food for Good community of 400 members across Alphabet and Google and she made substantial contributions to Google’s global food waste goals through food recovery and policy mapping. While our time together was cut short, I will always be her champion.
Mike Ryckman
I had the tremendous privilege of working with Gwen on Google’s Food for Good team. Gwen is passionate, incredibly hard working, smart, and - most importantly - curious. Our group focused primarily on the intersection of food waste and food insecurity. Gwen came with an existing passion for sustainability issues, but was largely new to the food insecurity space. It was impressive seeing the enthusiasm she brought and how she dove in and learned a new and complex space. Gwen became such an asset on our team. She kept us on task, guided us through tricky problems, and was an expert on keeping us focused and moving forward. As a great TPgM does, Gwen was constantly engaged with our technical work, but would then do a million things - things we mostly wouldn’t see - to ensure the health of the overall project. Beyond her fantastic work with Food for Good, Gwen is an amazing person. She is patient and kind. She brings a balanced perspective to so many conversations. She is curious and not afraid to ask questions. And she has been a great friend to all of us since her earliest days on our team. It was a real privilege to work with Gwen, and I hope to do so again.
Emily Ma
Gwen Chong has the most tenacity of anyone I know. She has my full support and highest recommendation. Gwen joined my team in 2021 as a volunteer and then I was Gwen’s direct manager from February 2022 to January 2023, before Google’s 12,000 person layoff during which our entire team was eliminated without notice. In her six years at Google, Gwen served as a Hardware Technical Program Manager for Nest and then joined our team through the most creative path possible. Gwen was dogged in aligning her values to her day to day work. She volunteered to help drive our 2021 Food for All campaign as we made grants to 20 non-profit organization in food rescue and hunger relief. She then fully transferred to our team as our Senior Technical Program Manager. In the year I’ve had the pleasure working with Gwen, I’ve deeply appreciated and benefitted from her gentle and persistent program management. She guided our engineering team in their work and kept them accountable to operational deadlines, she organized a dozen external partners to contribute to our open source work, she oversaw our Food for Good community of 400 members across Alphabet and Google and she made substantial contributions to Google’s global food waste goals through food recovery and policy mapping. While our time together was cut short, I will always be her champion.
Mike Ryckman
I had the tremendous privilege of working with Gwen on Google’s Food for Good team. Gwen is passionate, incredibly hard working, smart, and - most importantly - curious. Our group focused primarily on the intersection of food waste and food insecurity. Gwen came with an existing passion for sustainability issues, but was largely new to the food insecurity space. It was impressive seeing the enthusiasm she brought and how she dove in and learned a new and complex space. Gwen became such an asset on our team. She kept us on task, guided us through tricky problems, and was an expert on keeping us focused and moving forward. As a great TPgM does, Gwen was constantly engaged with our technical work, but would then do a million things - things we mostly wouldn’t see - to ensure the health of the overall project. Beyond her fantastic work with Food for Good, Gwen is an amazing person. She is patient and kind. She brings a balanced perspective to so many conversations. She is curious and not afraid to ask questions. And she has been a great friend to all of us since her earliest days on our team. It was a real privilege to work with Gwen, and I hope to do so again.
Emily Ma
Gwen Chong has the most tenacity of anyone I know. She has my full support and highest recommendation. Gwen joined my team in 2021 as a volunteer and then I was Gwen’s direct manager from February 2022 to January 2023, before Google’s 12,000 person layoff during which our entire team was eliminated without notice. In her six years at Google, Gwen served as a Hardware Technical Program Manager for Nest and then joined our team through the most creative path possible. Gwen was dogged in aligning her values to her day to day work. She volunteered to help drive our 2021 Food for All campaign as we made grants to 20 non-profit organization in food rescue and hunger relief. She then fully transferred to our team as our Senior Technical Program Manager. In the year I’ve had the pleasure working with Gwen, I’ve deeply appreciated and benefitted from her gentle and persistent program management. She guided our engineering team in their work and kept them accountable to operational deadlines, she organized a dozen external partners to contribute to our open source work, she oversaw our Food for Good community of 400 members across Alphabet and Google and she made substantial contributions to Google’s global food waste goals through food recovery and policy mapping. While our time together was cut short, I will always be her champion.
Mike Ryckman
I had the tremendous privilege of working with Gwen on Google’s Food for Good team. Gwen is passionate, incredibly hard working, smart, and - most importantly - curious. Our group focused primarily on the intersection of food waste and food insecurity. Gwen came with an existing passion for sustainability issues, but was largely new to the food insecurity space. It was impressive seeing the enthusiasm she brought and how she dove in and learned a new and complex space. Gwen became such an asset on our team. She kept us on task, guided us through tricky problems, and was an expert on keeping us focused and moving forward. As a great TPgM does, Gwen was constantly engaged with our technical work, but would then do a million things - things we mostly wouldn’t see - to ensure the health of the overall project. Beyond her fantastic work with Food for Good, Gwen is an amazing person. She is patient and kind. She brings a balanced perspective to so many conversations. She is curious and not afraid to ask questions. And she has been a great friend to all of us since her earliest days on our team. It was a real privilege to work with Gwen, and I hope to do so again.
Emily Ma
Gwen Chong has the most tenacity of anyone I know. She has my full support and highest recommendation. Gwen joined my team in 2021 as a volunteer and then I was Gwen’s direct manager from February 2022 to January 2023, before Google’s 12,000 person layoff during which our entire team was eliminated without notice. In her six years at Google, Gwen served as a Hardware Technical Program Manager for Nest and then joined our team through the most creative path possible. Gwen was dogged in aligning her values to her day to day work. She volunteered to help drive our 2021 Food for All campaign as we made grants to 20 non-profit organization in food rescue and hunger relief. She then fully transferred to our team as our Senior Technical Program Manager. In the year I’ve had the pleasure working with Gwen, I’ve deeply appreciated and benefitted from her gentle and persistent program management. She guided our engineering team in their work and kept them accountable to operational deadlines, she organized a dozen external partners to contribute to our open source work, she oversaw our Food for Good community of 400 members across Alphabet and Google and she made substantial contributions to Google’s global food waste goals through food recovery and policy mapping. While our time together was cut short, I will always be her champion.
Mike Ryckman
I had the tremendous privilege of working with Gwen on Google’s Food for Good team. Gwen is passionate, incredibly hard working, smart, and - most importantly - curious. Our group focused primarily on the intersection of food waste and food insecurity. Gwen came with an existing passion for sustainability issues, but was largely new to the food insecurity space. It was impressive seeing the enthusiasm she brought and how she dove in and learned a new and complex space. Gwen became such an asset on our team. She kept us on task, guided us through tricky problems, and was an expert on keeping us focused and moving forward. As a great TPgM does, Gwen was constantly engaged with our technical work, but would then do a million things - things we mostly wouldn’t see - to ensure the health of the overall project. Beyond her fantastic work with Food for Good, Gwen is an amazing person. She is patient and kind. She brings a balanced perspective to so many conversations. She is curious and not afraid to ask questions. And she has been a great friend to all of us since her earliest days on our team. It was a real privilege to work with Gwen, and I hope to do so again.
Experience
-
All About Waste
-
United States
-
Environmental Services
-
1 - 100 Employee
-
Project Manager
-
Apr 2023 - Present
-
-
-
Google
-
United States
-
Software Development
-
700 & Above Employee
-
Technical Program Manager, Food for Good
-
Mar 2022 - Mar 2023
-
-
Material Engineering & Science Program Manager
-
Mar 2020 - Mar 2022
-
-
System Engineering Program Manager, Nest
-
Sep 2017 - Mar 2020
-
-
-
Career Break
-
Advertising Services
-
1 - 100 Employee
-
Backpacking the globe
-
May 2016 - May 2017
Spent a year traveling through South America, Asia and Europe. It was great spending some time at home with family and met awesome new friends along the way. All relax and now ready for the next adventure! Spent a year traveling through South America, Asia and Europe. It was great spending some time at home with family and met awesome new friends along the way. All relax and now ready for the next adventure!
-
-
-
Apple
-
Indonesia
-
Software Development
-
1 - 100 Employee
-
System Engineering Program Manager, Audio Accessories
-
May 2014 - May 2016
⋅ Responsible for the development of multiple audio accessories products - including the AirPod charging case and an unreleased complex audio product⋅ Led exploration of product definition and feature feasibility of audio accessories. Drove product architecture and technical opens to closure in program’s early phase⋅ Managed functional program manager team and broad cross-function engineering team members through hardware development and design validation⋅ Responsible for budget planning and spending throughout development cycle⋅ Trained new-hire EPMs on development process, provided ongoing mentorship Show less
-
-
Engineering Program Manager, iOS Accessories
-
Oct 2011 - May 2014
⋅ Managed and shipped 4 accessory products, including inbox Lightning charging accessories, Made-for-iPhone Lightning modules, and iPhone docks ⋅ Drove electronics, mechanical engineering, firmware and software, NPI, and operations teams towards product realization⋅ Ownership of each project/program from concept to launch - responsible for schedule, cross functional team communications, engineering issue tracking and executive review presentation⋅ Execution of hardware builds in China and Japan, including bring up of new contract manufacturer. Set up build goals and schedule, identify and track engineering issues to resolution Show less
-
-
-
Palm
-
United States
-
Computers and Electronics Manufacturing
-
1 - 100 Employee
-
HW Engineering Program Manager
-
Jul 2009 - Sep 2011
⋅ Responsible for the development of a smart phone product from concept to market launch under tight schedule constraints ⋅ Owned project schedule, budget, product costing, and resource planning ⋅ Extensive time spent in Asia managing ODM partners, and engineering builds in Asia ⋅ Oversaw manufacturing transfer from ODM’s old to new manufacturing site. Drove and ensured plant readiness (incl. manufacturing and test line setup, workmanship quality) for successful hardware builds ⋅ Responsible for the development of a smart phone product from concept to market launch under tight schedule constraints ⋅ Owned project schedule, budget, product costing, and resource planning ⋅ Extensive time spent in Asia managing ODM partners, and engineering builds in Asia ⋅ Oversaw manufacturing transfer from ODM’s old to new manufacturing site. Drove and ensured plant readiness (incl. manufacturing and test line setup, workmanship quality) for successful hardware builds
-
-
-
Superior Communications
-
Wireless Services
-
200 - 300 Employee
-
Mechanical Engineer
-
May 2004 - Jul 2009
⋅ Engineering lead for cell phone peripherals and consumer electronics product lines ⋅ Acting program manager on numerous phone peripherals and power adapter programs. Managed both external vendors and internal resources to ensure project requirements are met ⋅ Worked on design of high volume injection molded plastic parts. Worked directly with tooling houses to optimize tool for yield, throughput, and cosmetics quality of plastic parts ⋅ Engineering lead for cell phone peripherals and consumer electronics product lines ⋅ Acting program manager on numerous phone peripherals and power adapter programs. Managed both external vendors and internal resources to ensure project requirements are met ⋅ Worked on design of high volume injection molded plastic parts. Worked directly with tooling houses to optimize tool for yield, throughput, and cosmetics quality of plastic parts
-
-
Education
-
2001 - 2004
University of Kentucky
B.S., Mechanical Engineering
Community
