Activision Blizzard Appoints New Chief Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Officer

gameinformer.com:

Activision Blizzard has appointed Kristen Hines, Accenture’s former Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity practice leader, to be its new Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer. This news comes after months of lawsuits that detail harassment, discrimination, and more at the company, and after last week’s news that the publisher-studio giant is converting all U.S.-based quality assurance testers to full-time employees with benefits and increased wages. On top of lawsuits and workplace changes, this news comes after Raven Software attempted to unionize after roughly a dozen of its contractual QA workers were laid off. However, Activision Blizzard opted not to voluntarily recognize Raven’s union.

“Hines joins Activision Blizzard from Accenture where she most recently led the Global Inclusion, Diversity, and Equity practice, and sat on the firm’s global leadership team for the CEO transformation practice,” a press release from Activision Blizzard reads. “In that role, she helped organizations establish and strengthen their own [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] strategies and capabilities, ensuring success through integration with the business, data-driven accountability and continuous feedback loops between leaders and employees. She brings over two decades of experiences across a variety of clients and industries, and has focused on large-scale enterprise and culture transformation, talent strategies, and mergers and acquisitions for clients across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.” 

Hines says gaming has the potential to connect communities around the world and showcase heroes from all backgrounds, and that she’s looking forward to playing a part in “expanding the landscape for talent who brings these compelling