Denise Young Smith Takes on New Role as VP of Diversity and Inclusion at Apple

deniseyoungsmithDenise Young Smith, who served as Apple's head of Worldwide Human Resources, has taken on a new role, according to her LinkedIn page. Going forward, Smith will tackle diversity issues at the company as Apple's Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity.

Denise Young Smith is Apple's vice president of Inclusion and Diversity at Apple. She reports to CEO Tim Cook.

Since joining Apple in 1997, Denise has served in several key HR roles. Most recently as Vice President of Worldwide Human Resources and Talent. For over 10 years, she sat on the leadership team that built Apple's retail organization, which now welcomes more than one million people every day. Apple stores have redefined the retail experience and their talented employees have become the face of Apple for customers around the world. Before retail, Denise ran HR for Apple's Worldwide Operations and Corporate Employee Relations teams.

According to an internal source that spoke to 9to5Mac, Smith has already taken on the new role at Apple, though her executive page on Apple's leadership site has yet to be updated. With Smith moving to her new role, Apple will have no head of HR, a role that Luca Maestri, Apple CFO, will temporarily fill.

Smith, who has been with Apple for more than 20 years, will report directly to Tim Cook. As HR head, Smith has already been involved in many diversity programs at Apple and her new role suggests Apple is taking diversity and inclusion more seriously.

Apple's previous head of diversity and inclusion, Jeffrey Siminoff, was in a director role that reported to Smith, but Smith's position is executive level, which TechCrunch says represents a "significant upscaling of responsibility" compared to the role Siminoff previously held.

According to Apple's latest worldwide diversity numbers, the company is 68 percent male and 32 percent female, while in the U.S., employees are 56 percent white, 19 percent Asian, 12 percent Hispanic, and nine percent black.

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.

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 18.4 With Priority Notifications, Ambient Music, New Emoji and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:03 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4, the fourth major updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating system updates that came out last year. iOS 18.4 and iPadOS 18.4 come two months after Apple released iOS 18.3 and iPadOS 18.3. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to...
iOS 19 Mock WWDC25 Feature

iOS 19 Expected to Run on These iPhones

Monday March 31, 2025 5:28 pm PDT by
iOS 19 will not be available on the iPhone XR, iPhone XS, or the iPhone XS Max, according a private account on social media site X that has accurately provided information on device compatibility in the past. The iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max all have an A12 Bionic chip, so it looks like iOS 19 will discontinue support for that chip. All other iPhones that run iOS 18 are expected...
iPhone 17 Pro 34ths Perspective

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Sunday March 23, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of March 2025: Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone ...
AirPods Pro Firmware Feature

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4

Monday March 31, 2025 11:27 am PDT by
Apple today released new firmware updates for all AirPods 4 and AirPods Pro 2 models. The new firmware is version 7E93, up from the 7B21 firmware that was installed on the AirPods Pro 2 and the 7B20 firmware available on the AirPods 4 and AirPods 4 with ANC. It is not immediately clear what new features or changes are included in the new firmware, but we'll update this article should we find ...
top stories 2025 03 29

Top Stories: WWDC 2025 Announced, iPhone 17 Pro and iOS 19 Rumors, and More

Saturday March 29, 2025 6:00 am PDT by
Apple's big developer event is a little over two months away, and rumors about what we can expect to see in Apple's next major operating system updates are becoming increasingly frequent. A public release of iOS 18.4 is also imminent with a number of updates and improvements, although we won't be getting the major Apple Intelligence Siri upgrades that had reportedly been planned for this...
iOS 19 visionOS UI Elements

Apple Codename Provides Clue About iOS 19's Rumored New Design

Sunday March 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
Multiple sources have claimed that iOS 19 will introduce a new design with more translucent buttons, menus, notification banners, and more, and there is now another clue that points towards this glass-like appearance. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman today said the new design project is codenamed "Solarium" internally. A solarium is a room with glass walls that allow in plenty of sunlight, so this...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.4 With Mail Categorization and More

Monday March 31, 2025 10:04 am PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.4, the fourth major update to the macOS Sequoia operating system that launched in September. macOS Sequoia 15.4 comes two months after the launch of macOS Sequoia 15.3. Mac users can download the ‌‌macOS Sequoia‌‌ update through the Software Update section of System Settings. It is available for free on all Macs able to run macOS 15. With...
Magic Mouse Green

What to Expect From the Magic Mouse 3

Saturday March 29, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple is reportedly working on a new Magic Mouse. Below, we recap what to expect. The two key rumors for the Magic Mouse 3 so far include a relocated charging port, along with a more ergonomic design. It was briefly rumored that the Magic Mouse 3 would also feature voice control, but that was misinterpreted information. Relocated Charging Port While the Magic Mouse switched from...

Top Rated Comments

Rocco83 Avatar
103 months ago
I'm not sure of every other black, or minorities, experience; but I have had zero issues with the color of my skin holding me back. Hard work and skill has propelled me along my way. I feel this world is getting too soft with inclusion being necessary in everything. Less Kumbaya and more competition.

If Apple wants to worry about diversity, how about they ad some more diversity to their port options on their Pro version of their laptops.
Score: 157 Votes (Like | Disagree)
k2director Avatar
103 months ago
What Apple says: “Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion"

What Apple means: "Vice President of Racial Quotas, Racial Shaming (ie, so-called white privilege), and a thought-police culture that punishes employees if they dare step off the politically-correct line."
Score: 76 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FactVsOpinion Avatar
103 months ago
It feels odd to me that people placed in charge of diversity always seem to have to be blatant tokens of diversity themselves.
Score: 63 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macsrcool1234 Avatar
103 months ago
most pointless job on the planet.

make a few million stirring up tensions! sign me up!
Score: 56 Votes (Like | Disagree)
You are the One Avatar
103 months ago
All hail to the Social Justice Warriors!


Score: 49 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Paul Dawkins Avatar
103 months ago
We clearly need more diversity in the NBA :rolleyes:
Score: 47 Votes (Like | Disagree)