Pinterest taps former Amazon exec as first independent and female board member

Above: Pinterest has named former Amazon executive Michelle Wilson to its board of directors.

Image Credit: Pinterest

Pinterest announced today that it has named Michelle Wilson to its board of directors, where she’ll offer guidance around how the company can continue to grow globally and better tap into the ecommerce space. The former Amazon executive becomes not only the first independent board member, but the only woman in the group.

Other board members include Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann and early investors Jeff Jordan from Andreessen Horowitz and Jeremy Levine from Bessemer Venture Partners.

Wilson spent 13 years working for Amazon, where her last role was as senior vice president and general counsel for the online marketplace company. She not only worked closely with the board of directors but specialized in strategic and operating decisions around talent acquisitions, international expansion, public relations strategy, and more — all things that would fit well with Pinterest at this point.

Beyond Pinterest, she also sits on the board of Zendesk, Okta, and the Seattle PBS television affiliate KCTS 9.

While Wilson’s addition does diversify Pinterest’s board of directors, her expertise also seems to match the growth of the company. In April, it was revealed that most of the visual search engine’s growth was coming from outside the U.S., specifically in countries like Russia, South Korea, Mexico, France, Brazil, Japan, and Germany. Pinterest believes that its next 100 million users will be international.

Her experience at Amazon will probably be quite valuable to Pinterest, especially as it continues to build out its advertising business, including with Promoted Pins, which launched internationally in April, Buyable Pins, and other revenue-generating means.

The push to appeal more to international users isn’t far-fetched, and there are signs that the company is taking steps to make its service more inclusive, such as with its “Pin it” button. Earlier this week, Pinterest acknowledged that it was testing out a new label for its browser button where it reads “Save” for some users. “As we grow to be a more international service, ‘save’ translates better than ‘Pin it,'” said a company spokesperson.

“Pinterest is a treasured brand that helps people around world discover and do the things they love,” Wilson said in a statement. “I’m passionate about working with companies with a global vision for improving people’s everyday lives, and look forward to working with Ben and team on this journey.”