Macmillan US sets up inclusive management team; CEO steps back

In the US, Macmillan Publishing will establish a 13-member trade management committee to set goals and objectives for its trade publishers, divisions and departments, reports Publishers Weekly.

In a letter to staff, CEO John Sargent said he is ‘step[ping] back from day-to-day management to make room for new voices’ in the US trade publishing operation. Sargent will remain in charge of the overall Macmillan global businesses. Publishers will also continue to report to president Don Weisberg.

‘The committee will form a different and more inclusive management team, representing a wider range of experiences,’ said Sargent. ‘This will be an exercise in changing power dynamics, and in making sure we have diverse perspectives in the decision-making process. This level of change is difficult, but I believe it is necessary.’

Weisberg and COO Andrew Weber said in a letter to staff: ‘We need to change as a company. We need more diversity in the titles we publish, more committed positioning and marketing of these titles, more hiring and promotion of diverse staff, more inclusivity in the decision-making process, and more open dialogue throughout the organization.’

The move comes two weeks after a US industry-wide collective action to protest the industry’s role in systemic racism, which was initially organised by five Macmillan employees.

Category: International news