Kimberlea Hunt, who goes by KB, describes herself as “a community wizard,” and having worked with her, I’d say that’s pretty accurate. She started her career in public policy and advocacy at Sunrun, then moved into tech and community at Asana, and today she leads the Friends of Figma user group program at Figma.
KB inherited a program that already existed and rebuilt it, which is a spot a lot of community leaders end up in. We talked about how she gathers input at scale, why she loves a structured process, how she measures a program that’s kept small on purpose, and why she’s so wary of new tools.
Every community is “2C”
KB defines community as people coming together around something that brings them joy or excitement, which is what separates it from a support system. She also made a point about B2B I really liked: “Whether you’re talking to a B2B or a B2C community, you are still talking to an individual.” In her view, the real difference is internal, in the strategy and in how you keep the business motivated to invest.
Surveys for members, conversations for stakeholders
With over 200 leaders around the world, KB relies on surveys (a little to her own amusement) so everyone can weigh in “no matter what their time zone is.” Her annual survey goes out every December, built mostly on short-answer questions so people feel comfortable sharing what they love and what they don’t. Internally, she starts with the stakeholders who actually want to work with her, then brings in the skeptics once there’s something real for them to lock into.
Structure is what makes choice possible
“I love a structured process,” KB told me. She’s a big fan of choose-your-own-adventure communities, since some members want a lot of support and some would rather do their own thing without talking to her much at all. (I told her I couldn’t believe that was possible, and I stand by it.) I described it as a buffet: you don’t have to eat everything, but if you want to heap your plate mile high, you can.
Bringing a siloed program closer
When KB joined, Friends of Figma was run by contractors region by region, with each region running its own version and very little visibility into who was doing what. What leaders needed most was to be closer to Figma, so the team globalized the program with KB as the single point person. “Ironically, the community was missing from this community of leaders,” she said, and connecting leaders with each other became a big part of the work.
Because new groups join in small quarterly cohorts, KB sets goals around activity rather than headcount:
How many events leaders host around the world.
Who attends, which accounts they’re from, and whether anything happens afterward, like upgrades or expansion.
Participation in Config watch parties, where groups host local viewings of Figma’s annual conference. There were 80 of them the year before we talked, from Hong Kong to Luxembourg.
Beware tool creep
One thing that drives KB crazy is “adding vendors for the sake of adding vendors.” An external tool can shape how the community itself is structured, so she only adds one when leaders are clearly asking for what it does. I’m the same way, since every new tool comes with integration, legal, security, IT and a learning curve. As KB put it, “If you need it, they’ll tell you.”
She’s just as careful about taking things away. She tries never to remove something without saying what takes its place, and she checks whether pushback comes from most members or from a few loud voices.
You can’t create a community
When I asked about her least favorite engagement initiative, I was sure the answer would start with a G and end with “amification.” It was anything recurring the team can’t sustain, like a weekly town hall the team doesn’t have the bandwidth to keep up.
Her advice for anyone starting out was my favorite part of the conversation. You can’t create a community, she said. It creates itself, and your job is to build the house it lives in, floor by floor, as it grows.
Key takeaways
Even in B2B, you’re talking to an individual.
Surveys let a global program hear from everyone. Internally, start with the stakeholders who want to work with you.
Strong structure lets members choose their own path.
A program that’s small by design should measure activity rather than headcount.
Add tools only when members clearly need them, and never take something away without saying what replaces it.
Decoded insight
KB’s approach comes back to building structure around people who are already excited, then getting out of their way.
You can connect with KB on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/kimberlea. And if this conversation sparked a thought, leave a comment or share it with someone who’s inheriting a community program and wondering where to start.
Timestamps
00:00 – Meet KB
01:14 – Defining community
01:55 – A memorable experience as a member
03:24 – B2B, B2C and why every community is “2C”
04:53 – Community goals at Sunrun and Figma
06:19 – Gathering input from members and stakeholders
08:17 – Designing program structure
10:23 – Promoting a new program
12:00 – Friends of Figma success metrics
14:10 – Choosing vendors and avoiding tool creep
19:45 – Rebuilding Friends of Figma
22:14 – Engaging leaders through Config and Slack
23:48 – The annual survey
24:37 – Reporting results
26:34 – Changes, rollbacks and loud voices
31:30 – Sustainable swag and the swag store
37:33 – Bumps in the road with independent groups
41:59 – Favorite and least favorite engagement initiatives
46:51 – Advice for building a community program
49:33 – Why KB does this work
51:07 – Where to find KB
