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Another Disney Chief Exec Announces Exit From the Company

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Credit: Disney

The Walt Disney Company announced Tuesday evening that another chief executive is stepping down from her role as the company shake-up continues.

Disney’s Chief Diversity Officer, Latondra Newton, who first took on the role more than six years ago and was responsible for overseeing Disney’s diversity and inclusion initiative, Reimagine Tomorrow, is parting ways with the House of Mouse to “pursue other endeavors.”

RELATED: Former Disney CEO Bob Chapek Responsible for Various “Missteps” That Forced Disney’s Hand in Giving Him the Boot 

disney's chief diversity officer latondra newton

Credit: The Walt Disney Company

Disney’s Chief Diversity Officer, Latondra Newton, is exiting her role after 6 years to pursue other endeavors. https://t.co/ka5nBE1duS

— Scott Gustin (@ScottGustin) June 21, 2023

Disney touts Newton as an innovator known as a “forward-thinking and progressive leader in business and diversity and inclusion.” Such efforts have been a part of Newton’s entire career.

Latondra Newton was named Senior Vice President, Chief Diversity Officer of The Walt Disney Company in February 2017. She leads the Company’s strategic diversity and inclusion initiatives, helping Disney and its employees around the world tell stories that entertain, enlighten and inspire. Ms. Newton partners with various business segments and leaders across the enterprise to build on Disney’s commitment to producing entertainment that reflects a global audience and sustains a welcoming and inclusive workplace for everyone.

Prior to joining Disney, Ms. Newton served as Group Vice President, Social Innovation and Chief Diversity Officer, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and Chief Program Officer, Toyota Mobility Foundation, Toyota Motor Corporation. She began her career at Toyota in 1991 and held a variety of senior roles spanning corporate planning, research, public affairs, marketing, philanthropy, and diversity.

According to a post in Variety, Newton “will be joining the corporate board of another company soon and plans to devote more time to her self-owned creative company.”

Newton is the second chief to announce her exit from The Walt Disney Company in less than one week. On Thursday, the Chief Financial Officer of The Walt Disney Company announced her exit. Christine McCarthy, who has been with Disney for years, will begin a family medical leave on July 1, 2023. Her last day of medical leave, as well as her last day with the Disney Company, will be June 30, 2024. 

Layoffs

Credit: The Walt Disney Company

While the initial announcement led some to wonder if McCarthy is battling an illness, many now believe that McCarthy is stepping down to focus her time on a class-action lawsuit against The Walt Disney Company that specifically names McCarthy, former Disney CEO Bob Chapek, and former Chapek sidekick Kareem Daniel. The suit was brought by a group of shareholders who say that the three Disney execs engaged in unlawful and deceptive business practices by misrepresenting the viability and profitability of Disney’s streaming service, Disney+.

About Becky Burkett

Becky's from the Lone Star State and has been writing since she was 10 and encountered her first Disney Park when she was 11. It was love at first Main Street Electrical Parade. Joy is blank lined journals, 0.7 mm pens, and all things Walt, Woody and Buzz, PIXAR, Imagineering, Sleeping Beauty (make it blue!), Disney Parks history and EPCOT. At Disney World, you'll find her croonin' with the birdies at the Enchanted Tiki Room or hangin' with Woody and the gang at Toy Story Land. If you can dream, you really can do it!