Ethica Strategies was founded with a mission: to empower social impact organizations to achieve their goals through expert strategic leadership.
Principal Tricia Mills is an experienced executive who has built and sold her own educational technology company, and built and led global engineering orgs at startups and Fortune 500 companies such as Expedia and Pinterest. In her 25+ years of experience in the tech industry, she’s been a generalist expert who has worked on large-scale cloud infrastructure, monetization growth, user social engagement, civic tech, education, marketing and operations. She has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, an MIT Certification in Applied Generative AI, and Certification in Agile Product Development.
“Trish was part of my executive leadership team at Pinterest, where she demonstrated exceptional leadership as a technical executive. Trish excels at collaborating with organizational stakeholders, clearly defining priorities, and aligning work plans accordingly. She is adept at setting clear OKRs, closely monitoring progress, and taking proactive steps to correct course whenever necessary.
Trish is an effective communicator who provides constructive feedback and engages meaningfully with executive leadership to articulate priorities and strategies for delivery. I would gladly work with Trish again and wholeheartedly recommend her for any executive role—she is an outstanding leader.”
— Coburn Watson, Executive Advisor and former VP of Infrastructure for Pinterest and Netflix
“I worked with Trish during my time at Pinterest. I always enjoyed our interactions and appreciated her collaborative style, strong communications skills and results-oriented approach. Her partnership with Finance (both directly and in the way she led her teams) played a key role in helping the company realize significant efficiencies and cost savings in one of our largest, most strategic cost areas (cloud computing/infrastructure). I’d be happy to work with her again in the future.”
— Chris George, VP and CFO at Nike
“I first met Tricia as a student at the University of Illinois, where she impressively founded an online school of technology. I later became the Academic Director of the school (O'Reilly School of Technology) where I was able to witness her innovative mindset and exceptional work ethic firsthand. From the school, Tricia went on to serve in an executive capacity at Expedia, Pinterest, and other start-ups.
Tricia is not only intelligent and personable, but she also possesses a unique ability to identify challenges and establish clear strategies to address them. Her combination of technical expertise and strategic insight makes her a valuable asset to any startup looking to navigate the complexities of growth and innovation.”
— Debra Woods, Accreditation Specialist for DEAC, former Director at FDA and Walter Reed Army Inst. of Research
“One of the most remarkable aspects of Trish’s leadership was her ability to manage multiple teams at once, each filled with staff-plus and senior engineers, while still inspiring us to think creatively and push boundaries. Trish had a unique way of bringing together diverse personalities, aligning us all toward a common goal, and elevating each team member. It was a masterclass in leadership to see her guide such a large, dynamic group, helping us expand our perspectives and find fresh, well-rounded approaches to our work.
The frameworks and processes she introduced were so effective that, to this day, my colleagues and I still draw on what we learned from her. Trish’s mentorship and coaching were fundamental to my growth, providing a supportive and joyful environment that made me proud of our achievements together. I feel incredibly fortunate to have worked with Trish…”
— Sekou Doumbouya, Senior Staff Cloud Systems Engineer at Pinterest, formerly Quip and Oracle
“Trish has been a mentor to me personally and to many others. She is an amazing and dedicated leader.
When we worked together at Pinterest, Trish took on the challenge of leading a zero-to-one team, and from day one, she steered the team onto a clear and focused path forward. Watching her turn ambiguity into direction was incredible. She created an environment where cross-functional collaboration just flowed naturally, making it easy for us to stay aligned and deliver on some pretty big milestones. Her strategic mindset and clear communication kept everything moving smoothly.
She is passionate and she gives her all to the problems she is working on and to the people she works with, and that makes her a great leader.”
— Pamela Clevenger, Manager of Product Data Science at Grammarly
“Trish is one of the most prolific strategic partners I've encountered. Facing sometimes insurmountable obstacles, she is steady on her feet, methodical in her ability to plan, flexible in her ability to turn on a dime, and confident in her mission and vision. Trish is brilliant at implementation and has a follow-through tenacity that is unsurpassed. I miss her sense of humor which is a key component of her talents in persuading her team to simply ‘do the right thing and pass it on’.”
— Linda Siniard, Principal HR Consultant