Alexis Ohanian, founder of the social media company Reddit, speaks during an interview in New York. Ohanian says he can't imagine how he and Serena Williams would have coped with a new baby if he had not been able to take leave from his job. Now the Reddit co-founder is rallying all men to join the battle cry for paid parental leave in the U.S., the only industrialized country that does not mandate it at the federal level Alexis Ohanian Paternity Leave, New York, USA - 19 Feb 2019

Reddit Co-Founder Alexis Ohanian Resigns, Urges Board to Fill His Seat With Black Candidate

Meredith Woerner

News

Co-founder of Reddit Alexis Ohanian is stepping down and urging the rest of the board to fill his seat with a Black candidate.

“Fifteen years ago I co-founded Reddit to find community and a sense of belonging, it’s long overdue to do the right thing,” Ohanian said via his personal Twitter account. “I’m saying this as a father who needs to be able to answer his black daughter when she asks: ‘What did you do?'”

His video speech continued, explaining his hopes for the future of this company, “I’ve resigned as a member of the Reddit board, I have urged them to fill my seat with a Black candidate.”

Ohanian intends to use any future gains from his Reddit stock to “serve the black community,” and to fund the curb of “racial hate.” He then pledged $1 million to Colin Kaepernick’s Know Your Rights Camp, a charity whose mission seeks to “advance the liberation and well-being of Black and Brown communities through education, self-empowerment, mass-mobilization and the creation of new systems that elevate the next generation of change leaders.”

He closed out his statement by saying, “I believe resignation can actually be an act of leadership from people in power right now. To everyone fighting to fix our broken nation: do not stop.”