Issue link: http://tcnj.uberflip.com/i/816864
40 SPRING 2017 40 SPRING 2017 T here's a phrase that adorns posters at the headquarters of the world's largest social media company: "Nothing at Facebook is someone else's problem." By definition, that sense of accountability is spread throughout the company, but Andrew Rausa '08 probably feels it more acutely than most. As Facebook's lead counsel on advertising and privacy, Rausa is in the vanguard of dealing with fast-evolving legal issues that affect nearly two billion users. Just 29, he credits his successful career in large part to the fact that he never planned on a legal career in the first place. "I wasn't one of those people who from the age of seven grew up thinking, 'I'm going to be a lawyer,'" says Rausa, a communications major at TCNJ. "The classes I enjoyed the most were the ones with some sort of presentation element, and I went into law thinking it would allow me to think critically, do some public speaking, and work in a niche area that I'd find intellectually stimulating." He found that niche when Facebook came calling last year, looking for a mix of skills — advertising expertise, technical knowledge, and a grasp of complicated privacy issues — that proved a perfect match for Rausa's résumé. Just four years out of law school, Rausa has already surpassed his modest expectations. Before joining Facebook, he worked for Undertone, an upstart advertising technology company, and facilitated its sale for a cool $180 million. That was December 2015. Not long after, Facebook called. It's been a hectic and high-profile stretch for the Middletown, New Jersey, native. In January, Rausa made the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Law & Policy. He describes his job at Facebook as helping engineers and product developers balance often-competing considerations: "What's the revenue opportunity and what's the risk?" With Facebook, of course, the biggest risk is alienating users. Rausa understands the outside narrative: They have all your data, and they're probably doing invasive things with it. What users don't see, he argues, is how privacy concerns are built into Facebook's decision-making at every step. "Facebook's number one asset is its users' trust," he says. "On a day-to-day basis, I feel good because I'm working to keep that ethos in play." —Ryan Jones CLASS N O T E S S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 Rausa made the 2017 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Law & Policy.