Bank Of America Veteran Cynthia Bowman

Apple Inc. has appointed Cynthia Bowman as its new Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity. 

Bowman, a seasoned banking executive, succeeds Barbara Whye, marking the fourth executive to hold this position in recent years.

Cynthia Bowman: Bank of America Veteran 

Cynthia Bowman, who previously served as Chief Diversity, Inclusion, and Social Responsibility Officer at Bank of America Corp., joins Apple following a 17-year tenure with the bank. 

“We are excited that Cynthia Bowman will serve as Apple’s next Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity,” an Apple spokesperson said in a statement, per Bloomberg. 

“Cynthia is an accomplished leader in her field and is deeply committed to the work we’re doing to advance inclusion and diversity at Apple.”

Apple’s commitment to diversity includes its $200 million Racial Equity and Justice Initiative, which focuses on education, criminal justice reform, and economic equality. 

As the new diversity chief, Bowman will report to Apple’s Chief People Officer, Carol Surface, and work with various internal groups to support these initiatives.

Fourth diversity chief in recent years

Apple’s efforts to diversify its workforce have shown mixed results and have been marked by turnover in its top diversity position. 

Human resources executive Denise Young Smith was the first person to hold the title. However, after only six months in her role in 2017, she left the company following comments about its predominantly white executive team. 

She was replaced by Christie Smith, who joined Apple in 2017 after 16 years at consultancy Deloitte. She left in 2020.

Read: Interview with VP Of Inclusion At Apple  - Everyone Needs To Hold Each Other Accountable When It Comes To Diversity

Cynthia Bowman takes over the role from Barbara Whye, who spent 25 years at Intel Corp. before joining Apple in 2021.

The company stated, “Whye’s retirement is planned for this fall and she and Cynthia are working together to successfully transition this vitally important work.” 

DEI at Apple 

While Apple has made strides in improving diversity within its workforce, significant challenges remain. 

Between 2014 and 2022, the percentage of Black employees at Apple increased from 7% to 9%, Asian employees doubled to 30%, and Latine workers rose from 11% to 15%. 

Globally, the proportion of women in Apple’s workforce increased from 30% to 35%. However, Apple has not published updated diversity statistics since 2022.