Tech industry veteran Damien Hooper-Campbell will join Zoom Video Communications Inc. as its first chief diversity officer, the company announced Thursday, May 28, 2020.
The Morehouse College and Harvard University graduate brings more than 15 years of experience in diversity and inclusion, leadership and management coaching, recruiting, community engagement, and finance to Zoom, having previously served as the first head of global diversity and inclusion at Uber Technologies and was a diversity business partner and community strategist in Google’s Diversity, Integrity and Governance Division. He is a recognized expert in the areas of diversity and technology as well as a highly sought-after speaker on panels and at symposia across the country, including rolling out‘s RIDE conference.
In his new role at Zoom, Hooper-Campbell will lead the design and implementation of the company’s global diversity and inclusion strategy with a focus on its current and future employees and its products. He also will be responsible for establishing Zoom’s university recruiting program and initiatives and build on its company-wide inclusion education efforts, employee resource groups, and inclusive hiring initiatives.
“Our core value as a company is to care – we care for our community, our customers, our company, our teammates, and ourselves. Damien embodies this key part of our culture,” Zoom CEO Eric S. Yuan said in a statement announcing the new position. “Not only does he care deeply, he puts it into action, building programs and relationships, and developing initiatives that reflect that value. Diversity and inclusion are everyone’s responsibility, but I know that Damien will work with all of us to make Zoom an innovator in this area, which will make our culture, platform, and communities even stronger.”
Hooper-Campbell said he has been impressed by Zoom’s ability as a platform to connect people around the world virtually and authentically.
“It is this level of human connectivity that sits at the heart of diversity and inclusion,” he said. “In spending time with the Zoom team, I can tell that this is a group of people who place the value of caring for their communities, their customers, and each other at the forefront of the decisions they make for Zoom and its products. This value of care is a key component to the empathy and vulnerability needed to drive meaningful diversity and inclusion efforts.
“There is an opportunity to not only help make the organization more diverse and inclusive but also to make the Zoom platform one that acknowledges and incorporates the needs and backgrounds of the hundreds of millions of participants who use it daily. I look forward to partnering with the rest of the Zoom team and valued external partners to make this a reality.”
Hooper-Campbell will begin his new position on June 1.
