Rebekah Bastian is a strategic product executive and corporate culture leader. Coming over from Microsoft in 2005, she helped to build and grow Zillow from a stealth pre-launch startup of 20 employees to a $13B+ market cap company of over 5,000 employees. Rebekah was a major driver of the product strategy, organizational transformation and cultural innovation throughout the company’s growth.

In 2020 Rebekah left Zillow to be CEO and Co-founder of OwnTrail. She started this company with the goal reimagining and scaling mentorship to serve all women. In line with this theme, Rebekah published her first book, Blaze Your Own Trail, in February 2020 with Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

During Rebekah’s 20 years as a product leader, she has 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’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 inaugural Community & Culture organization, responsible for Equity & Belonging, Cultural Engagement, and Social Impact Products. This transition proved Rebekah’s effectiveness as an operator and a leader across the business, from products to people.

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.