Issued May 31, 2018
May 31, 2018, 9 am PT
After a series of open dialogues with Facebook, the Service Employees International Union’s Master Trust (SEIU) is proud to announce that Facebook has adopted the diverse slate approach for future board appointments. This approach, also known as the “Rooney Rule” is patterned after the NFL’s program that requires owners to interview a diverse slate of applicants for vacant coaching positions.
Discussions have been ongoing between the SEIU Master Trust and Facebook since last fall. Master Trust representatives have found Facebook officials to be open and receptive to discussing different ways to ensure a diverse board of directors.
“The Service Employees International Union Master Trust is thrilled that the Facebook Board of Directors decided to formally adopt the diverse slate approach, which will hopefully build on the various diversity initiatives that the company was already implementing in its hiring decisions,” said SEIU Master Trust board member and SEIU-United Service Workers West President David Huerta. “It takes the leadership of companies like Facebook to take on the lack of diversity in Silicon Valley and adopting this Rooney Rule shows that Facebook’s leadership takes gender and racial diversity seriously.”
“We know we need more diversity at all levels at Facebook and in our industry. The diverse slate approach has been proven to have real results. We've been doing it for years for internal and board hiring at Facebook and today we're making it official for board positions. We're grateful to the SEIU Master Trust, the Congressional Black Caucus, the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus —as well as key diversity and inclusion advocates and civil rights organizations, including the Black Corporate Directors Conference and Rainbow Push— who gave us feedback and encouraged us to make this commitment.” - Sheryl Sandberg, COO Facebook