Uber has hired its first chief diversity officer as part of an effort by new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to change the ride-hailing company’s culture.
This is his third executive appointment since becoming CEO in September after a series of scandals forced the company’s co-founder Travis Kalanick to resign. The news was first reported by Recode. Uber confirmed the hiring to Coins2Day.
The diversity chief position was one of the recommendations following an internal investigation last year by former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder after a former Uber engineer published a blog post that described sexual harassment and discrimination at the ride-hailing company.
Bo Young Lee, who currently heads up global diversity and inclusion at Marsh & McLennan, will take the new position at Uber in March. In her new role, she will oversee all diversity and inclusion strategies including diversity hiring, trainings, managing relationships with recipients of a $3 million Uber diversity fund, a company spokesperson said in an email.
“As I was interviewing for this role, it became very clear that Uber is taking its cultural transformation seriously and truly wants to create a culture where every single person feels proud and heard,” Lee said in a statement. “There’s much more work to be done, and I’m excited to bring my experience to the table solving tough D&I challenges in partnership with Uber employees.”
Lee will report to Liane Hornsey, who heads human resources at Uber. Bernard Coleman, who heads Uber’s global diversity and inclusion efforts, will report to Lee.
In addition to hiring Lee, Khosrowshahi hired Tony West as chief legal officer in November. In December, Khosrowshahi also appointed Barney Harford, Orbitz’s former chief executive, as Uber’s chief operating officer.
