Facebook Picks Its Token Female Board Member
Facebook finally made the appointment it needed to change its shameful billionaire boys club to a slightly less shameful boys club, appointing COO Sheryl Sandberg to the board of directors Monday afternoon. "Sheryl has been my partner in running Facebook and has been central to our growth and success over the years," said Mark Zuckerberg, according to a press release on the site. "Her understanding of our mission and long-term opportunity, and her experience both at Facebook and on public company boards makes her a natural fit for our board." How nice of them to finally recognize her contributions nearly a year after The New Yorker's Ken Auletta profiled her and noted "By 2010, a company that was bleeding cash when Sandberg arrived had become profitable. Within three years, Facebook grew from a hundred and thirty employees to twenty-five hundred, and from seventy million worldwide users to nearly seven hundred million."
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Back when Facebook announced its board, we wondered why Sandberg -- or, really, any woman -- didn't make it. Now that we know a little more about the dude-centric culture in Silicon Valley, it makes a little more sense. Nonetheless, Sandberg, as both the financial leader of the social network and a voice for women in leadership roles (for better or worse)makes an (easy) and apt choice for Facebook. Even if it is a little late.
