Twitter Hires African-American Woman To Lead Diversity Efforts

Twitter previously hired a White man as diversity VP. After criticism, it now turns to Candi Castleberry-Singleton to diversify its workforce.

CNN reports that Twitter announced on Tuesday that Candi Castleberry-Singleton is its new vice president of inclusion and diversity.

In May, Apple hired Denise Young Smith, who is African American, as it first vice president of diversity and inclusion. Another tech giant has made a similar move.

“I’m so excited to join the team at Twitter to lead inclusion and diversity efforts for employees and the Twitter community. I look forward to bringing what I’ve learned to Twitter,” she said in a statement, according to USA Today.

Excited to announce I’m joining @Twitter as the new VP of Inclusion & Diversity. Can’t wait to help build on the company’s great progress!

— CandiCastleberry (@Candi) June 27, 2017

In 2016, Whites and Asians represented nearly 90 percent of Twitter’s workforce, according to the company’s diversity report. Blacks and Hispanics, combined, represented just 7 percent. The company’s leadership was 74 percent White and only 2 percent Black. And as with most of the technology industry, Twitter’s workforce in 2016 was male dominated, with women making up 37 percent overall.

Castleberry-Singleton, a Los Angeles native, has an MBA from Pepperdine University and completed Stanford University’s Executive Human Resources program. Her philosophy is that companies must view diversity as a core business goal, USA Today reported.

She’s the founder and CEO of the Dignity & Respect Campaign, a consulting firm that helps organizations develop cultural awareness and build diversity. Previously, Castleberry-Singleton worked at Motorola, Sun Microsystems and Xerox.

Twitter’s inclusion and diversity post became vacant when Jeffrey Siminoff stepped down in March. Before coming to Twitter, Siminoff worked as Apple’s director of inclusion and diversity. Though he came to Twitter with experience, the company raised eyebrows when it hired Siminoff, who’s White.

Mark Luckie of The Verge had this to say back in 2015:

“Like many others, I was left scratching my head at the news. Only 3 percent of Twitter’s employees are black or Latino, according to publicly released numbers, and Twitter could have made a bold…

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