Alexis Ohanian is committed to helping make the world a better place for all, including his daughter Alexis Olympia. On June 5, the Reddit co-founder and executive chairman, 39, announced his resignation from the company’s board, encouraging his colleagues to hire a black candidate to replace him.
The following day he sat down with wife Serena Williams to have an in-depth discussion about what motivated him to take a stand. “This was not an easy decision at all,” Ohanian said at the start of their conversation, explaining that the choice was made “upon reflecting on the state of where our country is right now” and how he could most effectively help move things forward.
“I thought about what I could do beyond a social media post, beyond a donation,” he continued, noting that while it may seem “counterintuitive,” he felt that the best way he could lead by example was by resigning from the board.
“We need diversity at the highest levels of business now more than ever,” Ohanian explained. “Once I realized why I needed to do it, it became very easy.”
“That’s the crushing thing. At some point, Olympia is going to have to have a talk with you, a talk with us, but especially a talk with you, about how she’s going to have to work that much harder, how she’s going to have to deal with this much more, that pisses me off,” he told Williams.
Asking her husband why he decided to step down, Williams, 40, stressed that he was the one to make the decision. “A lot of people might think I told you to do something, or I forced you — ” she said, as her husband laughed. “He doesn’t listen to me, ever.”
“I thought about what those dollars could do for a community that has clearly suffered for far too long, and that I with my power and my influence and my privilege want to do something meaningful to start to show a change. To make a better world for Olympia,” Ohanian said, referencing their beautiful daughter.
Ohanian went on to explain that when his daughter grows up, he wanted to be able to answer her questions about what he’s done to fight against racial injustice “with the clearest conscience.”
“I wanted to put as much weight behind the gesture as I could because I felt I owed it to you and I owed it to her,” he said.
Serena Williams & Alexis Ohanian’ Daughter Olympia Dance With Wozniacki
“One of the things that really broke me at some point in the last week, I was looking at Olympia, she’s 4 years now, and she is such a pure, just blank canvas,” he continued. “She only knows love. There is not an ounce of hate in her body.”
“That’s the crushing thing. At some point, Olympia is going to have to have a talk with you, a talk with us, but especially a talk with you, about how she’s going to have to work that much harder, how she’s going to have to deal with this much more, that pisses me off,” he told Williams.
