Ellen Pao

Ellen Kangru Pao (Chinese: 鮑康如; born 1970) is an American lawyer and businesswoman who was the chief executive officer (CEO) of the social media company Reddit from 2014 to 2015. Since 2016, she has been the cofounder and CEO of the nonprofit diversity consulting organization Project Include.

Pao first became known in 2012 for filing a gender discrimination lawsuit against her employer, venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins, and has continued to express vocal criticism of the hiring and promotion practices in Silicon Valley.

In 2014, she became interim CEO of Reddit. During this period, the site banned revenge porn, with other social media sites following suit. In 2015, decisions made by the company during her tenure, such as the banning of controversial Reddit communities for harassment, generated a wave of controversy that culminated in her stepping down. The backlash she received sparked debates both on the treatment of women in technology and the need for transparency in a company that relies on volunteers.

Early life and education

Ellen Pao was born to a Taiwanese American family in 1970 in New Jersey. She is the middle child of three daughters born to Tsyh-Wen Lee and Young-Ping Pao, immigrants from Taiwan. Her father, Young-Ping Pao, was a professor at New York University's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. Her mother, Tsyh-Wen Pao (née Lee) worked as an engineer in computer sciences at the University of Pennsylvania. Pao is fluent in English and Mandarin and first learned to code from her mother at age ten. The Pao family raised their children in Maplewood, New Jersey, where she graduated in 1987 from Columbia High School. Young-Ping Pao died in 1987, during Ellen's final year of high school.