Apple Shareholders Reject Diversity Proposal

Published by Kunbi Tinuoye at February 28, 2017

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Apple shareholders overwhelmingly rejected a proposal Tuesday to focus on employee diversity among the tech company’s senior management and board of directors.

The proposal, brought for the second year in a row by Apple shareholder and music producer Tony Maldonado, asked for compensation to be tied to diversity shifts at the highest level of the storied iPhone and Mac maker. It was defeated with 95% of shareholders voting against.

“We are focused on human rights and diversity, (and are) advocating for it around the world and increasing it in our own community,” Apple CEO Tim Cook told shareholders who attended the annual meeting on the company’s campus.

In a report released last summer detailing the company’s demographics, Apple revealed that its non-white workforce grew by a percentage point, although white employees increased by 2 percentage points to 56%. African-American employees went from 8% to 9%, Hispanics from 11% to 12% and Asians from 18% to 19%.

Tech companies continue to grapple with increasing diversity among a workforce that remains overwhelmingly white and male.

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Kunbi Tinuoye

Kunbi Tinuoye is the founder and CEO of UrbanGeekz. Previously, she worked as a News Correspondent for NBC’s theGrio. Prior, she was a senior broadcast journalist for the BBC in London. Tinuoye currently sits on the SXSW Pitch Advisory Board and CES Conference Advisory Board. She is a key player in the Atlanta tech startup ecosystem and serves as a mentor for Comcast NBCUniversal’s The Farm Accelerator. Tinuoye has received several awards and accolades, including being honored with a Resolution from the Georgia Legislative.