Netflix hires black marketing chief amid tech diversity calls

Netflix has named as its new marketing chief tech industry veteran Bozoma Saint John, who becomes one of the few black women in the top executive ranks in Silicon Valley.

Saint John, who has worked at Uber and Apple, will start in August as chief marketing officer at the streaming entertainment giant, it said Tuesday.

"I'm so honored, excited and ready," Saint John said in a tweet. "Let's go Team Netflix."

The appointment comes amid intensifying calls for improved representation for black people in board rooms, and in the wake of a reckoning over racial injustice in the US led by the "Black Lives Matter" movement, which California-based Netflix has openly supported.

A section recently added to the streamer features movies and series examining the black experience in the US, race-based abuses and the fight for civil rights.

Netflix previously said it would allocate two percent of its cash holdings, an initial sum of as much as $100 million, to financial institutions and organizations that directly support black communities.

"We believe bringing more capital to these communities can make a meaningful difference for the people and businesses in them, helping more families buy their first home or save for college, and more small businesses get started or grow," they said.

© 2020 AFP