Fortune - Meet Apple's new head of D&I

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November 20, 2020

Good morning, Broadsheet readers! Kamala Harris may be getting more briefings than Joe Biden right now, Nasdaq makes a $2.7 billion acquisition, and Apple gets a new head of diversity. Have a restful weekend.

– Whye yes. Fortune‘s own Michal Lev-Ram has the scoop on some interesting new hire news from Apple: the iPhone maker has named Barbara Whye, Intel’s head of D&I, as its new vice president of inclusion and diversity.

Whye—who is the first D&I leader we’ve named to Fortune‘s Most Powerful Women list during my tenure—is a force in her field. She joined Intel in 1995 and has been making her mark on the company ever since. Under her guidance, the chipmaker set—and achieved—a goal of reaching representation within its employee base: the racial and gender breakdown of its nearly 111,000-person workforce mirrors the breakdown of the “skilled” labor market in the United States. What’s more, the company reached that goal two years ahead of schedule. And she’s already made her influence felt beyond Intel, working with other tech companies to create and implement common metrics that will help the industry track and accelerate inclusion efforts.

She steps into the role most recently held by Christie Smith, who left last June. (Smith came on board after long-time Apple insider Denise Young Smith left the position and the company in late 2017.)

Apple said in a statement that Whye will concentrate on “expanding our companywide effort to hire, develop and retain the world-class talent, at all levels, that reflects the communities we serve.” There’s definitely work to be done there: In its most recent diversity report, the company said underrepresented minorities account for 24% its U.S. workforce—and that share dwindles further when narrowed to technical workers or leadership.

Whye starts next year. We’ll be watching.

Kristen Bellstrom
kristen.bellstrom@fortune.com
@kayelbee

Today’s Broadsheet was curated by Emma Hinchliffe.

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