Etsy appoints Colin Stretch as chief legal officer, corporate secretary

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Feb 6, 2023

Online marketplace Etsy, Inc. has appointed Colin Stretch as chief legal officer and corporate secretary.

Effective February 14, Stretch joins Etsy with 25 years of experience including from Facebook (now Meta), where he led the company's legal and compliance functions and corporate legal affairs, as general counsel, from 2013 to 2019. 

After Facebook, Colin spent two years as leader-in-residence at Columbia University Law School's Reuben Mark Initiative for Organizational Character and Leadership and, most recently, he was of counsel at Latham & Watkins. Earlier in his career, he clerked for Justice Stephen G. Breyer on the United States Supreme Court and Judge Laurence H. Silberman on the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

"We are thrilled to welcome Colin to Etsy. He has a deep commitment to our mission of economic empowerment, and is both a world-class lawyer and world-class leader," said Etsy CEO Josh Silverman, who Stretch will report to out of Etsy's Brooklyn headquarters. 

”Colin's extensive experience will be critical to Etsy's efforts to ensure we remain a safe and trusted marketplace, broaden our reach across all our brands, and advocate for micro-businesses around the world.”

Colin added, "Etsy has a strong reputation as not only a prospering business, but as a leader in the advocacy space. I'm honored and excited to be part of Etsy's mission to keep commerce human by enabling creative entrepreneurs around the world to turn their passions into thriving businesses.”

Most recently, in October, Etsy also named Rachana Kumar, as chief technology officer, replacing Mike Fisher, who has decided to leave the company for family and to pursue other interests come April.