Next we sat down at a conference table and anxiously awaited the arrival of Associate Manager of Facebook Public Policy, Krista Kobeski. Just as the sounds of rustling notebook pages and clicking pens died down, Kobeski, a bubbly, spirited woman with contagious energy walked in with a smile. She was wearing a long, striped dress, and carried herself with poise and confidence. Kobeski works with political figures and leaders from countries from all over the world who regularly visit Facebook. She leads an executive briefing team to make sure these individuals get what they need out of their visit to Facebook, whether it is monitoring a Q&A session to helping them use the social media platform as a way to promote any campaign they might want to start.

During her time at Facebook, she’s met many interesting people—heads of state, presidents and prime ministers. She told us she loves her job, helping others learn how to network, connect and expand their platforms and ideas using Facebook. Kobeski sent her resume to Facebook while she was still in college, and by the time she graduated, she already had a job with the company. What stuck out to us was the fact that she began as a small town girl from Pennsylvania to become a key member of the Facebook team. She showed us that hard work, a good education, creativity and a positive attitude can take us anywhere in we want to go in life. As a Facebook veteran, she said she’s worked for the company longer than 99.6 percent of other employees. She said she’s seen the company evolve from a small organization with 150 employees to a global phenomenon, with 53 offices worldwide.

Security Project Manager Genevieve Gaines also sat down with our FastForward group. She was collected, and upbeat as she told us about her job duties. We learned that each October, the security team organizes an event called “Hacktober” in honor of Cyber Security Awareness Month. During the month, she and her team send emails with suspicious links to employees to simulate real life attacks. The campus also had earthquake drills, lock-picking sessions, and an overview of other possible threats. These drills helped with both internal or coding problems and physical threats.