SAN FRANCISCO — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey pledged to make his company more inclusive while addressing the annual meeting of the National Society of Black Engineers.
"We are not going to be relevant unless we are inclusive, unless we are representative of who we serve," he told CODE2040 founder Laura Weidman Powers during an interview Friday before black engineers and engineering students.
Twitter has been heavily criticized by those outside and inside the company for the striking lack of women and minorities in its ranks, especially African Americans. More than a quarter of black Internet users in the U.S. are on Twitter, a rate higher than other ethnic groups, according to a 2013 study by the Pew Research Center. And "Black Twitter" — the flow of conversation about issues that matter to this online community — has become a cultural force capable of influencing the national dialogue and the course of events.
Twitter came under fire again in December when it hired a white man to lead its diversity efforts. Apple's diversity chief Jeffrey Siminoff replaced Janet Van Huysse as Twitter's vice president of diversity and inclusion. Siminoff co-founded Out Leadership, a lesbian, gay and transgender advocacy group and has promoted the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the business community.
Dorsey said he is committed to having women and minorities represented both at Twitter and at Square, the publicly traded digital payment company that he founded and runs.
Among the initiatives to increase representation: Twitter and Square are rolling out unconscious bias training to all employees and interns, Dorsey said.
Follow USA TODAY senior technology writer Jessica Guynn@jguynn
