TapTechNews May 22, according to a report by Bloomberg, Apple has hired Cynthia Bowman to succeed Barbara Whye as the Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity.
We are delighted that Cynthia Bowman will be Apple's new Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity, an Apple spokesperson said in a statement. Cynthia is an outstanding leader in her field and is committed to advancing the work of inclusion and diversity at Apple.
Bowman left Bank of America earlier this year, where she had worked for 17 years and most recently held the position of Chief Diversity, Inclusion and Social Responsibility Officer.
Apple has been striving to make its workforce more representative - with mixed results, and there has been significant senior-level turnover in this position. The first executive to hold this position, Denise Young Smith, left less than a year after taking up the post in 2017. Then Christie Smith took over and left in 2020. Barbara Whye, a former Intel executive, took over the position in early 2021 and plans to retire this fall.
This position needs to report to Apple's Chief Human Resources Officer, Carol Surface, and work with various groups within the company to support diversity. Apple has also proposed a $200 million (TapTechNews note: currently about 1.448 billion Chinese yuan) Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, focusing on education, criminal justice reform, and economic equality.