Former Kleiner Perkins partner Ellen Pao to join Reddit and lead strategic partnerships

Former Kleiner Perkins partner Ellen Pao, who sued the firm for sexual harassment last year and departed the group in October, has announced that she will join Reddit and lead strategic partnerships for the company.

Reddit wrote in a blog post that Pao has already been both a formal and informal advisor to the company for over a year, and has now decided to join full-time. In a statement in the post, Pao explained why she will be joining the social news community:

“I grew up in Maplewood, New Jersey, raised by enginerds on Star Wars, computers and books. I live in San Francisco, via New York City, Boston and Hong Kong. I’ve worked with dozens of tech companies, traveling to eleven countries on five continents, to help build a variety of consumer and business platform companies. My favorite subreddits are /r/IAmA and /r/pareidolia (I like people even when they’re not real). Being part of a community of people who care is inspiring and energizing. reddit has so much to offer so many people, and I’m excited to find partners to help make reddit even more awesome.”

Pao left Kleiner Perkins in October after filing a complaint against the firm for gender discrimination. As the Wall Street Journal reported in March, the case is not yet closed, and Kleiner Perkins has hired a prominent lawyer to defend the firm.

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