Kristen Hines has been named to the position and will join the company as of April 25th. She previously worked at Accenture, a tech firm dealing with IT services, as the lead of the Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity practice.
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In the statement announcing the new hire, Hines made her intentions to diversify the Activision-Blizzard workforce by looking to increase the number of women and non-binary individuals by 50% over the next 5 years. She’s quoted as saying, “I’m excited to join a company that is prioritizing its commitment to DEI and making progress on the ambitious goals it has set for itself. In an industry with historical underrepresentation, I’m looking forward to leading the company’s efforts to further build a workplace that values transparency, equity, and inclusivity.”
Activision’s bid to restore faith in its workforce is off to a shaky, yet potentially promising start. Hiring an experienced Black woman to lead the company’s efforts of diversity and inclusion is a step in the right direction to improve employee morale. Although coupled with further instances of union-busting and ignoring employee demands, there is some movement towards making Activision-Blizzard better.
Activision’s commitment to improving morale will take more than just putting a Black woman in charge of the crusade of diversifying the company’s employees. There still need to be more improvements and removals as it continues to move towards completing the merger with Microsoft. Part of the issue that led to the departure of Jen Oneal from the Co-Lead position at Activision was a feeling that she was tokenized in her position. Activision has to avoid the same mistake with Kristen Hines. It must allow Hines to make the hires, changes, and improvements that benefit the initiative without being handcuffed by the Board or other high-ranking executives and accept the responsibility to hire more diverse talent.
The company said in its statement announcing Hines that it will make progress updates on this initiative public via its website in “Q4 2021 and Q1 2022.” The option to provide updates is an attempt to be more open about the improvements since Activision CEO Bobby Kotick is depending on positive company morale as part of the golden parachute he’s set to receive once the Microsoft acquisition is finalized.
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Source: IGN, Activision Blizzard
