B.R.A.G Brilliance In Tech - Julie Wenah Is Building Products That Shape Our World: Designing with Everyone in Mind

Julie Wenah is an AI and product lawyer, a strategist focused on responsible biometric data and privacy, Chairwoman of the Digital Civil Rights Coalition, a Women in Product board member, and previously held senior legal and product roles at Meta and Airbnb. Through every chapter of her career, she’s worked to ensure that technology and the systems surrounding it are built inclusively and equitably — with all people and fairness— at the center.

A Career Built on Connection and Responsibility

Julie grew up in Houston as the daughter of Nigerian American parents, carrying with her a deep sense of gratitude for the sacrifices they made that shaped her opportunities. That awareness fueled a career that spans public service and the tech industry, always anchored in building systems responsibly, innovating thoughtfully, and making decisions with the betterment of all people in mind.  

Her early work in government, including roles at NASA, the White House, and the U.S. Department of Commerce, showed her how policy can determine who has access and who gets left behind. While traveling to manufacturing plants across the country for the Obama administration, she saw how modern technology was reshaping jobs and communities. That experience pushed her toward the tech sector, where she focused on building products and systems that consider fairness and real-world impact from inception.  

At Airbnb, she helped lead Project Lighthouse, the industry’s first major effort to measure racial bias in a global platform. At Meta, she created Project Height, an inclusive framework that helped product teams think more intentionally about the people and communities they serve.

Creating the Lane Before It Existed

As a Black woman in tech leadership, Julie has often found herself highly visible but not always heard. She learned early that she needed to understand every layer of the systems she operated in — product, policy, engineering, and storytelling — and that she needed community around her.

When she couldn’t find a path, she made one. Before “responsible technology” became a widely used term, she was already building the roles and frameworks companies now rely on. Later, she founded the Digital Civil Rights Coalition to close the gap between civil rights advocacy and technical implementation.

“Creating your own lane,” she says, “is betting on a future most people can’t see yet.”

Staying Connected to Community and Joy

For Julie, this work is rooted in people, not in theory. Through the Digital Civil Rights Coalition, she stays close to students, small and large businesses, and global communities experiencing technology’s impact firsthand. Through her creative project, The Album & the Mixtape, she uses storytelling — from film to music to testimony — to capture real lived experience.

Her grounding comes from faith, movement, and creative practice. Those spaces remind her of the simple truth behind all her work: humanity has to stay at the center.

Julie’s Message to Anyone Feeling Overlooked

To those who feel underestimated or unseen in tech or legal spaces, Julie offers this guidance, “Run your race, learn how systems are built, build community with peers, and document your work. Your story matters — and you should be the one to define it.”

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