Female tech workers raised money to buy a full-page newspaper ad thanking Ellen Pao
A group of female tech workers got together to place a full-page newspaper ad thanking interim Reddit CEO Ellen Pao for taking her lawsuit against former employer and Silicon Valley venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers to court, even though she lost.
The Palo Alto Daily Post, is a free weekly that gets distributed all across Silicon Valley in bookstores, coffeeshops, and restaurants, including on Sand Hill Road, where a lot of venture capital firms have their offices - including Kleiner Perkins.
This ad was crowdfunded by a group of tech industry workers led by Lori Hobson. None of them actually know Ellen Pao, but felt strongly about her message, USA Today reports. A crowdfunding effort was set up with PayPal and promoted via a "ThanksEllen" Facebook page, and designer Kris Loew was brought in to actually make the ad.
"Ellen's story resonated, it hit a chord with so many women. We wanted to thank her publicly for being brave enough to tell it, and make it so other people might tell their stories," Hobson told USA Today.