Serena Williams runs the world with new Silicon Valley position

Add Silicon Valley influencer to Serena Williams’ long list of accomplishments.

According to the Associated Press, Serena Williams has been named to the board of directors by online poll service SurveyMonkey.

Williams’ appointment is not only for her brand power which SurveyMonkey hopes to benefit from, but also part of its push to address the gender and race diversity issues that it believes it is facing.

SurveyMonkey CEO Zander Lurie said. “My focus is to bring in change agents around the table who can open our eyes.”

Only 14 percent of SurveyMonkey’s 650 employees identify as African-American, Latino or of mixed racial backgrounds. Additionally, only 27 percent of their workforce identify as women. Williams’ status as an African-American woman potentially helps advance efforts to improve diversity on both fronts.

Williams has been friends with Sheryl Sandberg, who is also on the SurveyMonkey board, for years. Sandberg is the widow of Dave Goldberg, who was SurveyMonkey’s CEO prior to his 2015 death. Because of that relationship and SurveyMonkey’s expressed desire to address its diversity issues, Williams was a natural fit.

While adding to her estimated net worth of $145 million, this position also gives Williams another position of influence in society. Combined with her engagement to Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, Williams can now play a significant role in the future of e-commerce and technology developments from her Silicon Valley boardroom position.

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“I have been really interested in getting involved in Silicon Valley for years, so I have been kind of in the wading waters,” Williams said. “Now, I am jumping into the deep end of the pool. When I do something, I go all out.”

There is little doubt that Williams will leave her mark on Silicon Valley, as she has every other aspect of society that she has determined to impact. In more ways than ever, Serena Williams runs the world.