06/11/2020

Daily Buzz: A Lesson on Board Diversity From Reddit

How a board resignation lead to immediate change

Many organizations—both for-profit and not—have recommitted at a pivotal moment to improve their diversity and inclusion initiatives.

A popular social network may have found a path forward while offering a potential lesson for others. This week, Reddit announced the appointment of Y Combinator (YC) CEO Michael Seibel onto its board, TechCrunch reported.

Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian stepped down from the company’s board of directors on June 5, amid nationwide protests over police misconduct toward black Americans. In his resignation letter, he asked that he be replaced with a black candidate.

Reddit cofounder Steve Huffman praised Seibel’s tech background and industry knowledge, calling him “one of the smartest and kindest people in tech.” Seibel’s previous ventures include founding Socialcam and Justin.tv., which later rebranded as Twitch. According to TechCrunch, Seibel has funded and advised more than 1,800 startups during his time at YC.

Huffman said the company will also update its content policy to better handle racist material posted by its own users. Reddit has been criticized for not taking sufficient action against such content.

“There is an unacceptable gap between our beliefs as people and a company, and what you see in our content policy,” Huffman recently said in an open letter.

Please select this link to read the original article from Associations Now.