Image source: Silicon Valley Leadership Group
Twitter Inc (Nasdaq: TWTR ) committed to increasing the number of women and minorities in leadership roles within the next five years as part of an effort to promote greater diversity within its ranks.
The social media company announced Thursday it taking the 25×25 pledge, a new initiative by the Silicon Valley Leadership Group that challenges San Francisco Bay area companies to raise the number of underrepresented groups in leadership roles to at least 25% by 2025.
According to Twitter’s most recent inclusion and diversity report, only 13% of the company’s current leadership employees are Black, Latino, Indigenous or multiracial. Women make up 38.2% of the company’s global leadership.
Last year, the company set a goal to have its executive roles be at least 50% women in the US and at least 25% from underrepresented communities.
Dalana Brand, Twitter’s vice president of people experience and head of inclusion and diversity, said, “We are proud to join the 25×25 pledge, which expands on our bold vision for workforce representation and commitment to inclusion and diversity.”
“Twitter’s purpose is to serve the public conversation, and we’re committed to making sure our company reflects the diversity of people who use the service,” said Brand.
Ahmad Thomas, CEO of Silicon Valley Leadership Group, commended Twitter for being among the first to take the pledge.
“Twitter has long been a groundbreaker in Silicon Valley and a driver of the important conversations in our culture,” he said.
SVLG on Friday unveiled additional companies that have joined the 25×25 pledge, including Facebook Inc (Nasdaq: FB ), United Airlines Holdings Inc (Nasdaq: UAL ) and the San Francisco 49ers.
“This is all about action to make our leading companies stronger at the end of the day. We’re proud to have them alongside so many of our member companies at this historic moment of reckoning, on diversity and representation,” said Thomas.
At large Silicon Valley tech firms, about 70% of the total executive, managerial and core technical workforce are male workers, particularly white and Asian men, according to the Center for Employment Equity, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In most workplaces, there are few blacks, Latino or female workers.
_____
Source: Equities News
Read Next
