The Motley Fool hires chief diversity and inclusion officer

Alexandria-based financial services company The Motley Fool Holdings Inc. has hired its first chief diversity and inclusion officer, the company announced Wednesday.

Rachel Williams joined the company on Nov. 12. She will work on recruiting, leadership development, employee engagement and retention. Her focus will also include advising The Motley Fool’s product and marketing teams. Williams will report to Tom Gardner, the company’s co-founder and CEO.

Before joining The Motley Fool, Williams served as head of diversity, equity and inclusion at X, the moonshot factory, a research and development subsidiary of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. Before that, she was the global head of diversity and inclusion at StubHub and the head of corporate recruiting, diversity and inclusion at Yelp Inc.

“Rachel is an incredible addition to our leadership team, our employees and all our stakeholders,” Gardner said in a statement. “She brings an unending passion for teamwork, people, fairness and purpose. She is a true Fool, with an innovative spirit and high expertise that will help us serve hundreds of millions more people in their journey to invest successfully.”

The Motley Fool was founded in 1993 by brothers David and Tom Gardner.

“I’m completely bought into The Motley Fool’s mission and vision,” Williams said in a statement. “Financial literacy, access to wealth creation and removing barriers to investing are some of the great societal equalizers. I can’t wait to join The Fool as we aim to tackle the audacious goal of making the world smarter, happier and richer.”