Reset: My Fight for Inclusion and Lasting Changes

"Necessary and incisive," (Roxane Gay) this bold and fearless account reveals the toxic culture of Silicon Valley and for the first time tells the story of the discrimination case that " blew open a conversation about the status of women" (The New York Times) in the workplace. She's been called "the face of change" (Time) and a "feminist hero" (Elle). Women from Hillary Clinton to Sheryl Sandberg to Anita Hill have publicly supported her. In 2015, Ellen Pao's trial against the powerhouse venture capitalist firm Kleiner Perkins shook up Silicon Valley and riveted the nation as she spoke out against the subtle and insidious discrimination women, people of color, and others experience daily in corporate America. When she lost her case, her supporters were outraged, but Pao resolved to keep fighting. As CEO of reddit, she moved to ban revenge porn and online harassment and called for tech companies to uphold their moral responsibility. Her experiences, including her fight in the courts against a monolithic opponent, are told here in jaw-dropping detail. After it all, Pao realized, we need to hit reset. Her account is the story of a whistleblower who aims to empower anyone who struggles to be heard, in Silicon Valley and beyond.

About the Author :
Ellen K. Pao is the chief diversity and inclusion officer for Kapor Center for Social Impact and a venture partner at Kapor Capital, and co-founder of the award-winning diversity nonprofit Project Include. She was the CEO at reddit and a venture capitalist at Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. Her writing has appeared in The Washington Post, TIME, Lenny, and Re/code. She has earned an engineering degree from Princeton and law and business degrees from Harvard. Her efforts to call attention to discrimination issues have led to the term the "Pao effect." Author Hometown- Maplewood, New Jersey

Review :
“Necessary and incisive . . . As Ellen Pao detailed her experiences while also communicating her passion for the work men often impeded her from doing, I was nothing short of infuriated. It was great to see a highly accomplished woman of color speaking out like this, and hopefully this book will encourage more women to come forward, give voice to their experiences in the workplace, and contribute to meaningful change.”—Roxane Gay
 
“[Reset delineates] the very fine line that a professional woman in a male-dominated field will, at some point, most likely find herself treading: ‘Is it possible that I am really too ambitious while being too quiet while being too aggressive while being unlikable?’ . . . The genteel chauvinism of the enlightened elites at Kleiner Perkins . . . carried with it the sting of betrayal. They promised her a meritocracy and gave her a glass ceiling instead: ‘It just wasn’t fair.’ She’s right.”—The New York Times Book Review

“If Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In has been the handbook for the rising female executive over the last decade, Ellen Pao’s book [Reset] is its logical companion and should be read alongside it as a staple in every business course.”—Wired

“[Ellen Pao’s] bravery in filing the lawsuit made her a hero to many women and helped change the conversation around sexism in tech. Now, Pao is back . . . with a new book, Reset, which takes readers behind the scenes of the roller coaster she’s been on.”—Marie Claire

“The gender discrimination trial that rocked Silicon Valley may be long over but [Ellen Pao’s] fight is not. And [she] has a message for the white male-dominated tech industry: It’s time for a ‘reset.’ . . . [Reset] is Pao’s defiant post-mortem on her tenure at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and the stormy courtroom battle that followed.”—USA Today

“Ellen Pao was one of the earliest voices sounding the alarm about bias and discrimination in the tech world.Reset explores the all-too-common challenges she faced and provides an instructive blueprint for equity and fairness.”—Katie Couric
 
“In [Reset,] Ellen Pao details both the necessity and cost of speaking up. She has been open in discussing the challenges she faced as a woman of color trying to foment change in Silicon Valley.”—Lindy West, The New York Times

“Powerful . . . Sexism in the tech industry is real, pervasive and extremely damaging, as . . . Ellen Pao’s forthcoming book makes clear. . . . There can be no conversation about women in tech without tackling the issue head-on. And thanks to Pao’s lawsuit, that’s what’s been happening for the past few years. . . . Pao opened the floodgates.”—HuffPost
 
“Ellen Pao [is] a phenomenal woman. . . . For anyone who cherishes the illusion that the tech industry is somehow superior to, say, investment banking, Pao’s book will come as a shock. . . . They say a fish rots from the head down. Same goes for Silicon Valley.”—The Guardian
 
“Vivid [and] fascinating reading . . . The Broadsheet covered the Pao trial extensively, but it's a very different experience to read her words now. . . . Her willingness to come forward paved the way for [other] whistleblowers. . . .  The ‘Pao effect’ . . . is real—and, it seems, just beginning to make its influence felt.”—Fortune

“When women assert ourselves, we confirm the bias against us, unconscious and otherwise. When we speak out, we identify ourselves as troublemakers. This is why I look forward to reading Ellen Pao’s account of her tribulations in Silicon Valley.”—Catherine Mayer, New York Times

“Ellen Pao courageously confronted Silicon Valley’s venture capital world by calling out bias and discrimination. She emerged from a public trial, media frenzy, and a fierce battle against online harassment with her strength, spirit, and voice intact. In Reset, with deep intelligence and a gift for storytelling, Pao movingly and passionately recounts her path to activism and advocacy. Her book offers a rare glimpse into the gender roles and stereotypes that still pervade one of the world’s most profitable trading centers.”—Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
 
“[In Reset,] Pao shares her story—the fascinating arc of her career and the bias and discrimination she encountered along the way, from Harvard Business School up through her time as CEO of Reddit. . . . To women throughout the tech industry—and to women in similarly male-dominated fields—she was a hero.”—Mashable

“Ellen Pao draws back the curtain in a book that will likely roar through Silicon Valley and beyond. She reveals in detail her experiences as a woman working in the world of tech and gives voice to the experiences of women working across many professions in America today. Writing transparently was courageous, and Pao is hoping it will help people of all backgrounds rise. This woman has guts.”—Ann Curry