There is no denying 2020 presented us all with many challenges — one of which being adapting to a fully remote work environment. Like many, our employees have been counting down the days until the week-long, holiday break and anxiously awaiting the year that seemed to never end. Yet before we could all close our laptops and say “see you next year,” we had one more thing to look forward to: our bi-quarterly Values awards!
It is hard to believe that a little over five months ago we launched our Nextdoor Values Awards with the hope of recognizing employees who exhibit Nextdoor values and their contributions to the company. Our first ever winners were announced at our Company All-Hands meeting where we celebrated each employee who exemplified one of our values.
To cap off 2020, we went out with a bang and had our People Team take over the All-Hands meeting, where neighbors were encouraged to dress for the occasion — we decided we could not go wrong with black tie/formal holiday party, 80’s prom or the classic ugly holiday sweater. It was a hit!
Now let’s meet our Values Award winners for Q4 2020!
Earn Trust Everyday
Winner: Justyn Harriman, Engineering Team
Justyn is a clear leader at Nextdoor. On top of managing a team, he led the Election Preparedness Committee in order to ensure the content on Nextdoor feeds remained accurate and civil. Justyn works tirelessly to make Nextdoor a trusted platform for neighbors to use.
From the words of his colleagues: “Justyn earns trust every day by being the driving force behind our efforts to combat misinformation, fraud, and election and census interference on Nextdoor. This work will become increasingly crucial as we grow our membership, and we owe it to Justyn that we are well-prepared to combat these risks!”
Customer Obsessed
Winner: Andy Levine, NOPS Team
Andy will do whatever it takes to ensure customers are satisfied. You can find him after hours spending time empathizing with customer feedback and creatively solving their problems. He truly represents customer obsessed.
From the words of his colleagues: “I have been consistently impressed by the way Andy Levine protects and advocates for our customers, and believe he deserves recognition for his consistent bravery in representing the voice of the customer… From watching Andy interact with customers, I know that he works hard to earn their trust. He is always available to help a customer, and despite being in a role that receives a lot of the negative, he always keeps a positive attitude. For Andy, this is not just a job. He truly wants to do what is best for our customers. Thank you Andy for all of your hard work – it does not go unnoticed!”
Invest in Community
Winner: Hannah Roos, Policy Team
Hannah goes out of her way to lend help to others and consistently brings new ideas to life. Her warm and cheerful presence makes others feel welcome and involved in the Nextdoor community.
From the words of her colleagues: “Hannah continues to stretch herself outside her daily role and responsibilities to invest in others at Nextdoor. Her warm, positive energy and focus to bring others together at Nextdoor couldn’t be more apparent with all the work she does. Sitting at the crux between Sales, Marketing, AdOps, Account Management, Hannah works tirelessly to be a part of multiple groups at Nextdoor. She shines as a Nextdoor employee and being one of the most welcoming employees at Nextdoor.”
Act like an Owner
Winner: Molly McCarty, Marketing Team
Molly is a key member of the Nextdoor Advertising Center team. She shares her marketing expertise with customers, helps with email copywriting, outlines outbound targeting strategy, and goes out of her way to ensure other teams are trained properly.
From the words of her colleagues: “Molly is someone who I completely trust has the interests of Nextdoor first. She owns her work wholly, is honest with results, and is always learning and pivoting quickly. She offers her expertise to other parts of the business. What I admire most about Molly is her dedication to making sure we are doing the best job. That means calling things out, and helping to make them right.”
Experiment and Learn Quickly
Winner: Guo Jie Chin, Sales Team
Guo Jie is the definition of experiment and learn quickly! As a newer member of the Nextdoor community, he immediately dove in and identified ways to help out — from learning new systems to finding new ways to support the sales team.
From the words of his colleagues: “Guo Jie has made one of the quickest impacts as a new hire than anyone I’ve known. He has quickly made a name for himself across the revenue organization because of the depth, accuracy, and speed of his insights all underlined by his curious and humble nature. It’s crazy to think about how much he has been able to accomplish in such a short amount of time – the sky’s the limit for what Guo Jie can accomplish with his ability to experiment and learn quickly.”
Think Big
Winner: Christine Foo, Design Team
Christine brings strategic thinking to any project she tackles. With thoughtful care and consideration, she emphasizes the importance of benefiting Nextdoor’s customers. She embodies “Think Big” in every little thing she does for the team.
From the words of her colleagues: “Christine always thinks big, and thinks thoughtfully. Thanks to Christine’s innovative and user-centered leadership, Nextdoor was able to imagine a new feed experience, brand, and product direction that allows for more private and location flexibility. Her work on illustrations, photography, and brand, has helped Nextdoor differentiate itself in the market. Christine approaches every problem with an open mind and genuine curiosity. These superpowers had led her to make a huge impact on Nextdoor.”
We are very excited to see these six individuals recognized as they continue to set a great example of living out our Nextdoor values. Moreover, we received close to 300 nominations for this round of awards, which is incredible! Join us in congratulating all of these amazing employees!
We love to celebrate our employee’s contributions and achievements and we look forward to continuing the momentum for employee recognition in 2021.
