Twitter’s next board may be less of a bro show

When Twitter’s only African American engineering manager quit the company, he said the company wouldn’t fix its diversity problem with its current structure.

Upon announcing he was quitting, Leslie Miley wrote that Twitter’s current structure was preventing any real change happening.

“From this position, Twitter may find it difficult to make the changes to culture and product,” Miley wrote.

“Any change would be approved by people who all think alike.”

As Re/Code reports, it seems the social network may have heeded Miley’s warnings, with rumours circulating that the company’s board is set for a shake-up.

Some of the company’s long-standing board members are preparing to pack up their desks, including Peter Fenton, Peter Currie and Peter Chernin, meaning it’s possible for new CEO Jack Dorsey to make good on his plan to diversify the board.

Sources say Dorsey wants to diversify Twitter’s board, which currently consists of seven white men and one white woman.

Accusations of cultural homogeneity have long plagued Twitter, which has publicly released statistics on its internal diversity problems.

Last week Miley posted a blog detailing why he was leaving the company.

“There was very little diversity in thought and almost no diversity in action,” he said.

Re/Code also says Twitter has often been accused of having a “bro culture”, with its employees conforming to the young, male and mostly white Silicon Valley stereotype.

With just 3 million new users since June this year, the company will surely be looking for ways to reach a wider market and board diversification is one strategy that could help solve the company’s ailing growth.

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