deniseyoungsmithDenise Young Smith, Apple's current vice president of diversity and inclusion, plans to leave Apple at the end of this year, reports TechCrunch. Smith was promoted to her position in May of 2017, and prior to that, she was in human resources.

Smith, who has been with Apple for more than 20 years, reports directly to Apple CEO Tim Cook. Prior to Smith's promotion, Apple had a head of diversity and inclusion, but her role was an executive level role with more responsibility.

Christie Smith, who was with Deloitte for 17 years as a Client Advisory Principal, will be taking over the position. Smith's LinkedIn profile says she has 28 years of experience building and leading high performance teams with expertise in "talent management, analytics, inclusion & belonging, leadership, organizational design, performance management, coaching, change management and culture."

In a statement to TechCrunch, Apple said the company is thrilled to welcome Christie Smith to the team.

"We deeply believe that diversity drives innovation. We're thrilled to welcome an accomplished leader like Christie Smith to help us continue the progress we've made toward a more diverse workplace."

Smith will report to Apple's vice president of people Deirdre O'Brien, and has reportedly been speaking with Tim Cook since about a year ago. Apple has been looking for a replacement for Denise Young Smith for the last several months.

After departing Apple, Denise Young Smith will become an executive in residence at Cornell starting this January. She will work with students to "build an early career-stage awareness of inclusive leadership and diverse talent."

Note: Due to the political nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Politics, Religion, Social Issues forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Top Rated Comments

modemthug Avatar
100 months ago
It’s absurd that this is even a thing
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
thadoggfather Avatar
100 months ago
A lot of rational people believe diversity and inclusion can drive performance.
People should get jobs based on their skill set and job history, etc

Not their ethnicity, ie something they didn’t have a say in (what heritage they were born into) and which has nothing to do with anything

Forcefully hitting diversity quotas is racist and A delusional progressive agenda

Imo
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arkanok Avatar
100 months ago
Most useless job title I’ve ever seen.
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
freelancing Avatar
100 months ago
While this isn't necessarily relevant, I did meet her once. I used to work at the Apple Store in Plano, TX, which was the 3rd store in the world to open. She flew into Dallas to meet the staff and was introduced to everyone. She seemed nice and was amazingly tall. She seriously has to be at least 7 feet tall. Later in the day, she was walking out of the store and her husband was coming in and he was a head taller than her. She seemed to go out of her way to not tower over people with a gentle grace. She reported directly to Steve Jobs at the time. She was very warm to the staff and down to earth.
Score: 27 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chucker23n1 Avatar
100 months ago
It’s absurd that this is even a thing
Indeed. How is discrimination still a thing in 2017?

But, well, it is. And will be for a while. So we need positions like hers.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chriscrk Avatar
100 months ago
Cue people complaining and arguing that people should be hired on merit and not race, as if there isn't currently a deep rooted problem regarding diversity that already affects the hiring process!
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

ios 19 messages app

Apple Sues Jon Prosser Over iOS 26 Leaks

Thursday July 17, 2025 8:40 pm PDT by
Earlier this year, YouTuber Jon Prosser shared multiple videos showing off what he claimed to be re-created renderings of what was then presumed to be called iOS 19 and which was eventually unveiled by Apple as iOS 26 at WWDC in June. In his first video back in January, Prosser showed off a Camera app redesign with a simpler set of buttons for moving between photo and video modes, and he...
iPhone 17 Colors

All 15 New iPhone 17 and iPhone 17 Pro Colors Revealed in Latest Leak

Wednesday July 16, 2025 6:50 am PDT by
We may finally have a definitive list of all color options for the iPhone 17 series, ahead of the devices launching in September. MacRumors concept In a report for Macworld today, Filipe Espósito said he obtained an "internal document" that allegedly reveals all of the color options for the upcoming iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max models. The report includes ...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Here's When to Expect the iOS 26 Public Beta

Tuesday July 15, 2025 11:07 am PDT by
Apple previously announced that a public beta of iOS 26 would be available in July, and now a more specific timeframe has surfaced. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said that Apple's public betas should be released on or around Wednesday, July 23. In other words, expect the public betas of iOS 26, iPadOS 26, macOS 26, and more to be available at some point next week. Apple will be releasing...
iPhone 17 Pro Dark Blue and Orange

Ranked: The Best Features Rumored for the iPhone 17 Lineup

Wednesday July 16, 2025 4:17 pm PDT by
We have just under two months to go until the debut of Apple's iPhone 17 models, and rumors have been ramping up in recent weeks. We went through everything we know so far, pulling out the most exciting rumors and highlighting some other changes that aren't going to be so great. Top Tier Ultra Thin iPhone 17 Air - The iPhone 17 Air is 2025's most exciting iPhone rumor, because it's the...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Homescreen

Foldable iPhone's Thickness and Price Range Detailed in New Reports

Wednesday July 16, 2025 11:31 am PDT by
Apple's long-rumored foldable iPhone will likely have a starting price between $1,800 and $2,000 in the U.S., analysts at investment banking firm UBS said this week. If so, the foldable iPhone would cost more than a MacBook Pro, which starts at $1,599. With a starting price of at least $1,800, the foldable iPhone would be the most expensive iPhone model ever released, topping the Pro Max at...
iPhone 17 Pro in Hand Feature Lowgo

iPhone 17 Pro Coming Soon With These 16 New Features

Friday July 11, 2025 12:40 pm PDT by
Apple's next-generation iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are only two months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models. Latest Rumors These rumors surfaced in June and July:A redesigned Dynamic Island: It has been rumored that all iPhone 17 models will have a redesigned Dynamic Island interface — it might ...
Apple Watch Ultra 2 Complications

Apple Watch Ultra 3: What to Expect

Sunday July 13, 2025 10:30 am PDT by
The long wait for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 is nearly over, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the Apple Watch Ultra 3:Satellite connectivity for sending and receiving text messages when Wi-Fi and cellular coverage is unavailable 5G support, up from LTE on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Likely a wide-angle OLED display that ...