Rebekah Bastian is a strategic product executive and corporate culture leader. Coming over from Microsoft in 2005, she helped to build and grow Zillow Group from a stealth pre-launch startup of 20 employees to a $7B+ market cap company of over 3,000 employees. Rebekah has been a major driver of the product strategy, organizational transformation and cultural innovation throughout the company’s growth.
During Rebekah’s 15 years as a product leader, she started a listing feed program to import millions of real estate listings, spearheaded a cross-platform suite of mobile apps, created and led the product org for the Premier Agent business – responsible for >70% of Zillow Group’s revenue – and led evolving revenue models for ecommerce and sales platforms. She also managed and led the cross-brand digital advertising integration after acquiring Trulia – a complex multi-team effort that was completed three months ahead of schedule without negative impact on the business.
Recognizing her strategic leadership skills coupled with her success in organizational growth, Zillow Group selected Rebekah to found the new Community & Culture organization, responsible for Equity & Belonging, Cultural Engagement, and Social Impact Products. This transition has proven Rebekah’s effectiveness as an operator and a leader across the business, from products to people.
Always looking for ways to combine her product leadership with her passion for social responsibility, Rebekah created the Community Pillar program – Zillow’s marquee product solution to housing instability – which has gotten over 50,000 landlords involved in helping to house vulnerable populations. She also started several impactful initiatives, including an annual day of teaching over 400 children engineering skills, a community-wide tech volunteer fair, and an internal program to train entry-level employees from underrepresented populations for tech careers.
Rebekah has served on several nonprofit boards. Currently she is on the Board of Directors of Bellwether Housing, serving on the fund development committee, and the Advisory Board for the University of Washington School of Mechanical Engineering. She is an advisor to technology startups, providing feedback on product strategy, business models, analytics, scaling and org management.
Rebekah is also a respected thought leader and community partner. She writes articles in multiple publications including Forbes.com, and is a frequent speaker at conferences and community events, with topics ranging from creating social impact through technology to supporting corporate diversity. She has been recognized in the Puget Sound Business Journal 40 Under 40, the Inman 33 People Changing the Real Estate Industry and the Female Founders Alliance Champion Awards.
Rebekah earned her Masters of Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley and Bachelors of Mechanical Engineering from the University of Washington. She is also a mentor, a mother to two boys and an aerial acrobat.
