Uber Appoints Former Snap VP Of Diversity Oona King As Its Chief Diversity And Inclusion Officer

Uber has hired Snaps Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Oona King as their new Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

Meet Oona King

Oona King is a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) executive with over twenty years of experience.

King has made her mark in several companies, including the Chief Diversity Officer at Channel 4 for over seven years, Global Director of Diverse Marketing at YouTube, and Director of Diversity Strategy at Google.

She also became the second Black woman elected to the British Parliament in 1997 and was an advisor to Prime Minister Gordon Brown on equality, diversity, and faith issues.

In 2011, King was appointed a life peer in the House of Lords as Baroness King of Bow before taking a leave of absence in 2016.

King’s Time At Snap

King joined Snap in 2019 amidst accusations of unequal treatment toward women and perpetuating a sexist culture.

In 2021, Snap’s diversity report revealed that the company had made slow progress toward overall racial and gender diversity, with 47% of its employees being white and 65% male.

However, there were some areas of significant progress as it increased the number of women on its board to 50% from 37.5%.

Snap’s recent diversity report showed their 2022 data where progress was made, such as increasing the percentage of women in tech roles.

There was also a growing representation of underrepresented racial groups in their US Leadership and among US People Managers.

In 2022, Snapchat also launched “The Black Creator Accelerator” as a mentorship program to help emerging talent jumpstart their careers.

Before leaving Snap, King and her team set goals within Snap to increase women in leadership by 30% and increase US racial and ethnic groups by 30%.

“In my career spanning more than three decades and several industries, companies, and continents, Snap is the place I enjoyed most. It’s where I did some of my best work. It’s where I had the most hope. It’s where I felt the most love,” King wrote on LinkedIn.

King Joins Uber

King has now joined Uber as their Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer.

“The chance to increase opportunity for so many people is huge. The chance to widen pathways into tech is extraordinary. And the chance to work for a company that has a commitment to civil rights – an area I am deeply passionate about – is a chance I could not miss,” King wrote.

“It was their civil rights efforts, and the reporting of those efforts, that was so inspirational.”

In May of last year, 2023, Uber suspended its Diversity and Inclusion chief over sessions “Don’t Call Me Karen” about white women’s stereotypes.

Bo Young Lee was suspended following growing discontent amongst Uber employees, many of whom come from ethnically diverse backgrounds.

Reportedly, Black and Hispanic workers felt the session focused too much on the issues around using the word “Karen” as opposed to the harms inflicted on people of color by white people.

Lee was the taxi app’s first diversity and inclusion chief when she joined the company in 2018.