Women’s History Month: Meet Developer Program Manager Allison Lee

Throughout Women’s History Month, we’re celebrating the women that are creating or supporting unique and innovative VR experiences and helping to shape the future of the metaverse.

We sat down with Meta Developer Program Manager Allison Lee to hear about her role and how she contributes to building a diverse developer ecosystem that supports and amplifies female voices and experiences in VR.

I am a Developer Program Manager at Meta which means I create and support different initiatives that support VR development for our platform. One of these initiatives is Launch Pad. Launch Pad is our annual developer program focused on supporting underrepresented communities. It’s my job to make sure that the way we support these communities and the types of opportunities we provide meets the community’s needs, Meta’s needs, and the immersive tech industry’s needs.

The goal of Launch Pad is to provide equitable opportunities for communities that have traditionally not been represented in the VR ecosystem - this includes female identifying creators. The program provides education, guidance, community, and resources that encourage creators to pursue their passion projects and find space to invest in their visions.

Where do I start? The tagline you’ll always hear is that “more diverse perspectives will support a healthier ecosystem.” What this means is that people are interested in and are experts in a variety of things. And the only way we can get a range of stories or games or art styles is to have these voices showcased and heard. Female identifying developers create really amazing high quality apps that are launching all over the VR space - it’s hard to find an app that *doesn’t* have a female developer or team member behind the scenes.

Launch Pad’s main goal is to signal to underrepresented communities that the industry sees their contributions and is making sure there are equitable opportunities for them. The program has helped support titles and studios that would not have formed had it not been for the program and builds on the growing community of advocates that support a more diverse and representative industry.

My favorite part of Launch Pad happens at the end of each program year - when developers start submitting their projects and start identifying themselves as “real” developers. A lot of times when program members start off in Launch Pad they’re hesitant to call themselves developers. They don’t see the work that they do as “development work” or they don’t think they’re skilled enough. There’s a lot of “a developer should be” language tossed around. By the end of the program there is always a marked shift in how the program members think about themselves and their work. They’ve all gone through extensive training and collaboration. They’ve formed teams and experimented with our platform. The majority have also created a vertical slice of a 6DoF app. Seeing the progression of program members unsure of their role to full on developers that are proud about their projects is the absolute best part of this job.

I see Launch Pad evolving as quickly and as broadly as the metaverse evolves. There should be some form of Launch Pad, either in practice or principle, for each type of content that can be created. Opportunities, access, representation, and inclusion should be at the core of all immersive spaces.

Stay tuned for more Q&As with the diverse voices shaping the future of technology and the metaverse. Join the conversation on Twitter⁠ and Facebook⁠ to connect with fellow developers and ask questions.