Alphabet Takes A Cue From Twitter, Moves Toward Diversifying Board

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL took a leaf out of Twitter Inc TWTR's playbook as it appointed its first African-American board member, naming Roger Ferguson, Jr. to its board of directors.

A CNN Money report said Twitter appointed its first African-American board member, Debra Lee, earlier this year after one of its largest investors criticized it as a "country club of old white guys."

Alphabet said Ferguson, who was the former vice chairman of U.S. Federal Reserve, "is a respected leader in the economics and finance industries, and will serve on Alphabet's Audit Committee."

Ferguson's appointment went into effect June 24, 2016.

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"I'm so excited that Roger has agreed to join our Board," said Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of the board of directors, Alphabet. "He has a long record of distinguished and thoughtful service in the private and public sectors, and deeply understands how technology can improve the lives of people around the world."

According to the company, just 2 percent of Google's overall workforce is black, while 60 percent is white. Ferguson has been praised for integrating diversity when he was the president and chief executive officer of TIAA, a major financial services company.