Denise Young Smith, Apple’s Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, is leaving the company at year-end. Christie Smith, who spent 17 years as a principal at Deloitte, will be assuming Young Smith’s role, TechCrunch learned Friday.
Christie leads the Deloitte University Leadership Centers for Inclusion and Community Impact and is their Managing Principal for Consulting in the western region of the United States, overseeing more than 2,400 consulting practitioners and 250 principals and directors.
“We deeply believe that diversity drives innovation,” said an Apple spokesperson. “We’re thrilled to welcome an accomplished leader like Christie Smith to help us continue the progress we’ve made toward a more diverse workplace.”
Young Smith has only been Apple’s boss of diversity and inclusion, a position created just for her, since May of this year. Before that, she ran Apple’s global human resources for three years.
TechCrunch has learned that Christie Smith will report to Deidre O’Brien, Apple’s Vice President of People (another odd-sounding job title created just for her) since July 2017.
According to a source, Young Smith had been talking with Tim Cook about the next phase of her career since about a year ago, so this is a planned departure.
Apple’s diversity report shows the company is still predominantly run by white men.
Specifically, males make up 71% percent of the leaders at the company worldwide. 61% of Apple’s executives under 30 are men, too. White people make up 66% of Apple leaders in the United Staes. Only 3% of Apple’s US executives are black.
You can learn more about Apple’s inclusion and diversity policies and efforts at the official website, including data from the last four years.