Dive Brief:
- Shavone Charles is TikTok's head of diversity and inclusion communications. This new role, the first of its kind for the video platform, entails overseeing "multicultural campaigns in collaboration with media and diverse creators."
- Prior to TikTok, Charles was director of communications and creative partnerships at VSCO — where she centered youth culture, fashion, and D&I in strategic partnerships and product campaigns. Notable projects include #BlackJoyMatters, which commissioned and encouraged Black creators to celebrate their heritage amid 2020's antiracism and anti-police brutality protests.
- Charles also helped found Twitter's Black employee resource group, Blackbird, in her time as the social media company's first head of global music and culture communications.
Dive Insight:
Amid the Great Resignation, HR pros are seeking novel ways to recruit talent — especially more diverse talent. Following LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, TikTok remains a final frontier of social media recruiting. Pioneers in this lane have forged a path with mixed results. When the HR world was abuzz with whispers of TikTok's recruiting tool, curiosity and reluctance (from Gen Zers) were at the forefront of conversations.
Following the pilot launch of TikTok Resumes in July, Tallo, an early-in-career talent network, Tallo conducted a survey on Gen Z attitudes toward video resumes and making TikToks for job applications. Respondents to Tallo's survey were generally apprehensive about video resumes. Only 7% of respondents said video resumes should be used for professional summaries that recap work experience or hard skills; however 72% said video resumes should be used to display creativity and personality.
TikTok's investment in D&I may bridge the gap between leaders in artistic industries and the young, Black creatives who can execute their projects with fresh energy and perspectives. Only time will tell, especially given the social media company’s history of centering White TikTokers riffing off of Black culture and de-platforming Black creators.
"Throughout every step of my career, it has been my personal mission to create more access and equity for people of color and underrepresented creators," Charles said in an Instagram post. "As a Black creator and advocate myself, I am beyond thrilled to join the TikTok team and continue my work in fearlessly supporting and amplifying the stories of underrepresented voices."
