20th Century Fox VP Is Leaving the Studio to Launch a Startup Combating Sexual Assault

As Hollywood reels from the deluge of sexual assault allegations, one studio executive may be a sign of change to come. Claire Schmidt is leaving her position 20th Century Fox to launch AllVoices, which will allow victims to anonymously report incidents of sexual assault, discrimination, and bias witnessed in the workplace. Schmidt, who joined the studio just eight months ago as VP of technology and innovation, is also a survivor of sexual assault. “[W]ith all of these stories coming to the forefront, I realized I had to do more,” she wrote on Medium, announcing the new venture.

“The recent onslaught of courageous women and men coming forward to tell their stories about assault and harassment has been incredibly inspiring to me,” wrote Schmidt. “But…as I read news article after news article, I kept thinking: Have we done enough? Have I done enough?”

Former Uber engineer Susan Fowler will serve as an advisor to the fledgling organization. Fowler is best known for writing a blog post detailing a culture of sexism at the ride-sharing company which led to the resignation of CEO Travis Kalanick. Investors include Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad.

Prior to joining Fox, Schmidt spent five years working with Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore’s non-profit, Thorn, which develops technology tools to fight child sex trafficking and other forms of exploitation.

“If we can provide a safe way for employees to report, we can help more people,” she wrote.