Monica Poindexter will be Lyft’s newest Diversity and Inclusion Officer as the ride-sharing giant heads toward an IPO, according to TechCrunch.
“The tech industry moves extremely fast, which can sometimes lead to the sacrifice of establishing a core foundation, or launching something without the proper infrastructure,” Poindexter said. “I am a firm believer that this approach does not work with advancing diversity efforts.”
Poindexter will be leading all of Lyft’s diversity efforts. Hopefully, she can improve some of the company’s dismal numbers from its most recent report which showed that Black people make up a little more than 10 percent of the company’s workforce, while whites make up 52.4 percent. The report also showed that 40 percent of Lyft employees are women, with 32.8 percent being in leadership positions.
Lyft improved 3 percentage points in the number of female tech team members and 4 percentage points in Black or African American team members over the course of a year.
Poindexter is replacing Tariq Meyers — who was hired for the same role in 2016 — but left the company to lead diversity efforts at Coinbase.
As the leader for diversity and inclusion at Lyft, Poindexter will be tasked with looking at “at diversity more holistically and look at it through the lens of talent, workforce and marketplace,” she told TechCrunch.
While its diversity numbers aren’t spectacular, Lyft has been adamant about funding and building initiatives that encourage underrepresented groups to enter into coding or business. The company’s partnership with Girls Who Code has been growing for years, and Lyft now has a way for riders to donate to the organization directly through the app.
“A diverse workforce can help us innovate our product design and increase the success of our go-to-market strategies while ensuring we are improving the rider and driver experiences and best reaching the communities we serve,” Poindexter said.
For Poindexter, the new title at Lyft will encompass some of her past experiences. She was also Facebook’s global head of diversity business affair and a D&I officer at two other medical and pharma tech firms.
