Facebook has been criticized for not having any female directors; all that changes today with the announcement that Sheryl Sandberg has not only been appointed to the board, but named as it’s director.
Ms. Sandberg will still continue her day to day position as second in command at Facebook, managing all business operations. She has been COO of Facebook since she joined the startup in 2008. Prior to that she was a top advertising executive at Google and also served as chief of staff to Lawrence Summers, U.S. Treasury Secretary. The fact that Ms. Sandberg has served on other boards, and up until now was not on Facebook’s board had drawn criticism from a few advocacy groups.
Often seen as an advocate for women in business and in the tech industry, Ms Sandberg recently sparked a debate about whether women can have it all.
“It’s great news. It’s about time,” stated Susan Stautberg, co-founder of Women Corporate Directors, a multinational organization dedicated to promoting female membership on corporate boards. She continued, citing statistics that identify a majority of Facebook’s users as women and said that Sandberg will contribute “brains, savvy and a good sense of the market.”
