CC Nomination: Jenna Makowski (Product Manager)

Working Groups Core Contributors
1

Hi all,

A few months ago, the Product WG decided upon criteria for a Product Manager in the Open edX project. As per the requirements, nominees need to present a portfolio of Product-related work that demonstrate the “3 C’s”: commitment, conduct, caliber. It is my pleasure to nominate @jmakowski and present a portfolio of work for her.

  1. Jenna was instrumental in authoring OEP-57, definition of Core Product.
  2. She’s spent a lot of time thinking about how we could make certain types of docs templates, both to standardize approach and save time. Here is a great example of her trying this out for Product Development
  3. Examples of user stories
  4. Market and user feedback - she has spent a lot of time not only conducting research but analyzing the results
  5. Her work on modular learning has been so much fun to read and be involved with as a reviewer. This shows how she’s organized the projcet but also how she’s been such a great thought partner to the engineering team. I especially appreciate this engineering-inclusive manner of product management.
  6. Work on community documents, such as PR guidelines and the Governance Charter for the Product WG
  7. She spends time imagining and envisioning where our project could go in the future, in documents like this concept doc - Modular Open edX Experience
  8. She maintains and grows the Open edX Roadmap with input from and collaboration with various community members
  9. She’s in the process of working on the Product Narrative

In my year of working with Jenna I’ve been impressed by her insight, how quickly she gets up to speed, how humble she is, how she has so many opinions that are strong while also being loosely held. I’ve worked with many product managers and she’s one of the most open and collaborative I’ve ever met. That attitude serves her well in working with our community. She’s also a force for getting huge volumes of things over the line. I’m currently working with her on a few projects and I gotta say, it’s awesome!

All that’s to say, I hope you all will consider Jenna as our very first (but not last!) Open edX project Product Manager. Please provide comments on this thread. Due to the upcoming holidays, I’m extending the deadline for comment by a week and a half, to Tuesday, 10th January 2023. Thank you!

3 Likes
2

I definitely vote yes.

3

:100: yes! Jenna’s perspective on Open edX as a product has been invaluable, and I look forward to working with her more!

Jenna also did a cracking job categorizing and describing the Data use cases for the analytics project. Amazing.

4

Big yes from me in this nomination. It’s been amazing to see the Jenna’s work on the Core Product and product narrative. :clap:

5

Also me, for sure yes!, Jenna’s work is astonishing!.

6

An unequivocal yes from me. +1

7

:+1: I’m excited to see all the amazing work Jenna’s going to do as a CC Product Manager.

8

:+1:

9

Jenna is leading a lot of interesting things. A big yes from me.

10

Definitely a warm yes to @jmakowski as the first official product manager on Open edX! It’s already pretty much a fact in practice anyway :slight_smile: Kudos for all the work on this topic - there is so much missing ground to cover, it’s great to see it progress that much. :+1:

11

100% YES! :raised_hands:

12

Hi all,

The nomination period is now closed and with 11 affirmative votes and no dissent, I’m pleased to welcome @jmakowski to the CC program as a Product Manager.

5 Likes