It’s a Chimed life: Meet Angie Ruan, Chime VP of Engineering
“My mother always said I should study computer science because it would allow me to work in a room with air conditioning,” says Angie Ruan (she/her/hers). “I grew up in a hot and humid town in China, so planning for a career that would provide me with an escape from the heat was important to her.”
But Angie’s interest in computer science had already taken root. Her childhood role model was Marie Curie and she loved math. When she ranked third in her state and was admitted to a CS program at one of the top universities in China, she was happy to be solving problems using math and logic.
When she neared graduation, Angie decided to drop out and move to the U.S. to pursue her studies further. “There’s a policy in China that would have limited my opportunities to my small tourist town,” she explains. “A few of us decided to follow our dreams and drop out so our careers could grow — it was scary at the time, but one of the greatest decisions I’ve ever made.” Angie came to the U.S. to follow her dreams and expand her opportunities. After getting her master’s degree, she set out on her career.
At the start of her career, Angie just wanted to find a job. “Being an immigrant, I loved America and wanted to be here,” she says. But when her friends started talking to her about Silicon Valley, she was intrigued — so she joined a startup, and that’s when her career began to be about more than just finding a job. “I discovered my love of making an impact,” she says. “So when the internet started to take off, I joined Netscape and then AOL, where I worked on the AOL welcome screen — at the time, it was the most visited website.”
The role of communication
Fast forward to 2004 when Angie joined another tech giant: eBay. She was brought on to help the organization scale, originally as a development manager to build the company’s backend messaging system. Later on, she became a manager. “I learned through my early career how important it is to communicate — it’s not just about working hard if you can’t communicate with your team, leaders, and company,” she says. “I’ve carried that lesson with me to this day, that it’s equally important to deliver the product as it is to communicate — and better communication leads to better products.”
Angie’s ability to communicate has served her in her career — from asking for more responsibility to seeking guidance from leaders and mentors. “Through open communication, I’ve learned how to improve my problem-solving skills,” she says. “Keeping lines of communication taught me that it’s not just about being a great technologist, it’s about being a great business leader, too.”
On being a woman leader in tech
It was coming out of training on unconscious bias that Angie decided to get her first mentor. “I cold-called people and eventually got an invitation to meet my mentor,” she says. “In working with my mentor, I realized that, once people know you want to learn, they will more than likely be willing to help you along the way.”
As a woman leader, Angie felt even more motivated to help other women along their paths in technology. She wanted to package all she knows about becoming a woman leader and share it with others. So when a position for Diversity Officer became available at eBay, she applied for it.
“I didn’t get the role, and, at first, I was sad,” she says. “Then I realized that the work of diversity starts with more leaders like me in engineering — not leaving engineering. So I decided to apply my strengths and became the president of Women in Tech at eBay instead.” The organization, which supported all women in technology at the company, grew from 900 to 2000 members during Angie’s time leading it.
“I didn’t quit my engineering job, but leading Women in Tech fulfilled my personal mission to pay it forward,” she says. “My good intentions of becoming the diversity officer failed, but I gained a new opportunity to lead Women in Tech.”
Following her desire to help people…all the way to Chime
One day in 2021, Angie was running in Central Park and started to cry. Her life in New York was full, her kids were off at college, and she liked her job. “I got so emotional because I felt so lucky — I’m living the American dream!” she says. “But during the pandemic, I saw the gap between rich and poor widening. I felt the need and an extreme sense of urgency to do something about it by leveraging my energy and learned skills. I decided then and there I wanted to pay it forward and help more people.”
While she was offered several CTO positions, it was when Angie’s friend and colleague suggested Chime might be an organization that would fulfill her desire to help people, she listened. “I joined Chime for our mission above all else,” she says. “It’s truly aligned with my passion for helping people.”
So Angie joined Chime, for our mission and drive to achieve it. “I love that our number one priority is to help our members achieve financial peace of mind — that’s the impact I hoped to have when I reflected on the pandemic and the effect it’s had on peoples’ financial wellbeing.”
The future at Chime
At Chime, Angie’s focus will be on taking our engineering organization to the next level. At the same time, she hopes to sustain our strong culture of passionate, like-minded people who are driven by our mission. “I’m so impressed that what I heard externally about Chime’s culture has proven to be exactly how we operate internally,” she says. She’s excited to be working on a small and growing team focusing on scalability, reliability, and adaptability. “I feel incredibly lucky to have this opportunity to learn and work closely with our team.”
“Above all else, I want us to stay member-obsessed in all that we do,” she says. “Ultimately, our members are the reason I — and so many other Chimers — joined the company. They’re where we can have the greatest impact and solve the most interesting problems…all while communicating along the way.”
