Congressional Black Caucus Recognizes Fifth African American Appointed to Fortune 500 Company Technology Board

Washington, D.C. – Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G. K. Butterfield (NC-01) and Congresswoman Barbara Lee (CA-13), co-chairs of the CBC’s Diversity Task Force, commended Apple’s appointment of James A. Bell to its Board of Directors.  Bell is the fifth African American appointed to a Fortune 500 tech company board since the CBC launched its CBC TECH 2020 initiative.  This latest appointment follows the CBC members’ visit to Silicon Valley where they met with tech leaders, including Apple CEO Tim Cook.

“We are pleased that Apple is demonstrating its commitment to greater African American inclusion with the addition of James Bell to its board.  In welcoming him to the Board, Apple has taken an important step forward in advancing African American leadership in the tech sector,” said CBC Chairman G. K. Butterfield.  “As we have stated before, the commitment of corporate executives in working toward African American inclusion at all levels of tech companies is critical to our national competitiveness and good for tech companies’ bottom line.  We look forward to other companies making African American inclusion not only a priority, but a reality.”

“The election of Mr. Bell to the Apple’s Board of Director shows a continued commitment from Apple to increase diversity within the company, which is a moral and economic imperative,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee.  “While the election of an African American to Apple’s Board of Directors is a major step forward, much work remains to ensure techquity.  I remain committed to working within the CBC TECH 2020 framework to increase diversity and inclusion of African Americans in the tech sector.”

Since CBC TECH 2020 was launched in May, four African Americans have joined Fortune 500 tech company boards including Leslie A. Brun and Pamela Carter to HP Enterprise and Stacy Brown-Philpot and Stacey Mobley to HP Inc., in addition to Bell.