Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington is emerging as the new public face of Uber in the wake of the company’s disastrous past six months which have seen numerous executives depart, concluding with the exit of founder and CEO Travis Kalanick.

Huffington, who was the first independent director appointed to Uber’s board, became a close friend of Kalanick, and in an interview with the Financial Times, she revealed that he called her shortly after being confronted by investors who were calling for his resignation.

“I felt that neither he nor the company should go through a protracted public fight,” said Huffington in the interview. “But it was entirely his decision.”

With many of Uber’s issues over the past year centring on allegations of sexism and a toxic corporate culture, placing Huffington at the fore is a smart move on Uber’s part. When she joined Uber’s board, she was the only woman, and she led the response to the initial accusations of sexual harassment and sexism made by former Uber engineer Susan Fowler.

“As the only woman on the board, it was important for me to make myself available to employees, to listen, and to make it clear that the board would hold management’s feet to the fire and that we were committed to fundamental changes,” said Huffington.

Huffington is also part of the two board subcommittees that control how Uber will emerge from the torrent of scandals it has been trapped in: the subcommittee overseeing the implementation of the independent report by former US attorney-general Eric Holder into the firm’s culture, management and governance, and the subcommittee hunting for a new chief executive for the firm.

“It’s important for the new CEO to be able to have that entrepreneurial spirit, while also recognising that Uber is at a different stage now, where structures and processes are very important,” said Huffington. “The goal should be not just to fix Uber but to fix the systemic culture of Silicon Valley. Otherwise, every year we will produce new reports asking why aren’t women advancing?”

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