Woman& Series: Meet Jordan Skye Paul of PIndigenous

The Woman& Series highlights the other significant aspects of the diverse women of Pinterest’s identities to further create belonging while celebrating intersectionality between Pinclusion Groups (PGs). This month, the Woman& Series is presented by our Women@ and PIndigenous PGs. In recognition of Native American Heritage Month, we’re reintroducing Jordan Skye Paul, Pinterest Director of Global Outsourcing and Founder and Executive Sponsor of PIndigenous. Jordan joined the company in 2015 and has continued to create impact within our product, company and local communities. Welcome back to the Life at Pinterest Blog, Jordan! 

Share the superpower that your background brings to any team?

As we build a more inclusive workplace at Pinterest, it’s really important to me that we have Indigenous voices at the table to represent our communities. The superpower our community has is to offer perspectives that reflect our culture and our ways of thinking that can make our company and products, in turn, more inclusive. 

For example, we know that Indigenous people are marginalized throughout the United States and the world. When we include Indigenous perspectives into the mix, we begin to consider groups that can be overlooked. This can be people who use our product or people who have not yet found their career in tech or at Pinterest. We can begin to plan and build for those people, where we otherwise may not. We also begin to consider insight about use cases that exist in the world that we haven’t tapped into, whether it be through beadwork, art, trends in “Indian country” like rocking your moccasins during Native American Heritage Month or global issues and topics affecting Indigenous communities around the world. We open the door to an even greater world view when Indigenous voices contribute to the discussion. That’s a hugely valuable perspective we greatly need as we grow and scale our business. 

Jordan Skye Paul and Brodie Gullic (Software Engineer and PIndigenous Global Lead) at AISES (American Indian Science and Engineering Society) National Conference 

What do you love most about working for Pinterest?

Genuinely, I think we have a unique culture at Pinterest that has always felt like a welcoming and warm group of people who want to see the company and each other succeed. I’ve really appreciated the people that I’ve been able to work with over the years, in particular the people who have been great allies and sponsors of PIndigenous. We have goals and aspirations as a community to see the PIndigenous community and Indigenous talent at Pinterest grow. In order to do that, we have to partner with several areas across the company. The passion and collaboration we see from folks who want to join us on that mission is inspiring. We have had some great champions of this work walk alongside us over the years, and for that experience, I can say that I have most loved working with people who want to see positive change and want to see Indigenous people thrive at Pinterest.

Top Left: Jordan Skye Paul, Top Right: David Murphy, PIndigenous Global Lead, Bottom Left: Charlie Hale, Co-Executive Sponsor of PIndigenous, Bottom Right: Congresswoman Sharice Davids, member of the Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin

What is your favorite achievement or something you are proud of having done at Pinterest?

Following my comment about wanting to see Indigenous talent thrive at Pinterest, I have personally dedicated my time and energy toward that work as much as I can over the years. In large part, building a community at Pinterest meant creating the first Indigenous employee resource group, which we lovingly call PIndigenous. I started PIndigenous along with another Pinployee, relative and friend, Eric Lopez back in 2019. From that point onwards, we have been able to accomplish so many great things from hosting incredible events with actors, writers, Creators, politicians, community leaders who inspire us in addition to leading efforts in making Pinterest a more inclusive platform for Indigenous content and a more inclusive place for Indigenous people to work. Starting this community has led to some really rewarding initiatives and to us recruiting and hiring more Indigenous people into the company. This is work that makes me proud to be at Pinterest and proud to see how much more we can build in the years to come.

Jordan Skye Paul with PIndigenous’s Global Co-Leads 

From left to right: David Murphy, Brodie Gullic, Ky Statham, Alison Quaglia and Jordan Skye Paul

What is your favorite Pinterest account by someone of your shared woman& identity?

An inspiring Indigenous designer and Creator that I really love to follow and support is Bethany Yellowtail, Crow Nation. She’s built a line of clothing that’s inspired by her roots coming from the Crow Nation in Montana that also has a modern vibe. Her Pinterest account is B.Yellowtail. I highly recommend checking it out and checking out her website for some particularly great Indigenous fashion.