Netflix’s Verna Myers to Exit, Wade Davis Promoted to Lead Inclusion Strategy

Erik Hayden
·3 min read

Vernā Myers, who helped spearhead Netflix’s inclusion and diversity initiatives over the past five years, is exiting the streaming giant in September and will be succeeded by vp inclusion strategy Wade Davis.

The executive, who joined the Los Gatos-based company in August 2018, has been tasked with implementing diversity, equity and inclusion strategies across the service companywide and promoting representation onscreen and behind the camera. Myers will stay on as an adviser to Netflix via her own consulting firm, The Vernā Myers Company, which provides DEI training to corporate workforces.

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“I will be returning to my consulting company working across global organizations and industries, while continuing to advise Netflix,” Myers stated. “It’s hard to step away from the company and this role because of how much I love Netflix and the people here. I’m so excited for the talented Wade Davis who will be taking the lead of the I&D work along with our incredible Inclusion Strategy team and I can’t wait to see the continued progress we all will make together.”

During the executive’s tenure at the streaming service, Myers authored Netflix’s first inclusion report in 2021, which discloses representation stats for the company’s workforce as well as initiatives in workplace culture and in programming. At the time of that report, the company unveiled its Fund for Creative Equity that would invest $100 million over five years “into creating more pathways for talent from underrepresented communities.” The latest annual inclusion report, released in April, stated that $29 million had been spent as part of that initiative on dozens of programs.

Netflix’s chief talent officer Sergio Ezama stated, “Vernā has had an immense impact on Netflix over the last five years and I’m glad we’ll still get to work together and benefit from her deep expertise. I’m very grateful for everything that she’s done to help strengthen our collective inclusion acumen and capabilities so that we can make Netflix a place where everyone feels welcome and can thrive.”

The executive’s run at Netflix parallels the increasing prominence that Hollywood has placed on improving its representation efforts, including where programming dollars are placed. Since the end of 2018, when global subscribers totaled 139 million, Netflix has made steady gains and now sits at 232.5 million subs with an annual content spend of around $17 billion. To that point, as Myers wrote in this April’s inclusion report, “In 2022 we spent ~$700M with underrepresented suppliers, representing a 9% year-over-year increase.”

The exit from marks the second notable shake-up in the DEI leadership space in entertainment this month, in a sector that has become increasingly politicized in the U.S. by conservative lawmakers. On June 20, Disney disclosed that its chief diversity officer Latondra Newton would be departing the company after a six-year run in the role. Newton, formerly a DEI executive at Toyota, was said to be leaving for another corporate board opportunity.

Variety earlier reported Myers’ move.

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