After cutting 20% of its global workforce last week, AOL announced a spate of new hires today, including the appointment of Biz Stone, the co-founder of Twitter, as strategic impact advisor, according to a statement from the company. The moves came as part of the AOL and Huffington Post deal that closed last week.
Stone, who will remain with Twitter, will develop a platform at the Huffington Post Media Group for people doing service in their communities. He will "rally other companies to invest in and deploy best corporate practices," as well as develop videos about companies and executives that are engaged in philanthropy. According to a HuffPo spokesperson, Stone will receive a combination of equity and compensation from AOL.
A Twitter spokesperson said that the new role does not impact Stone's duties at Twitter and the partnership with AOL is not related to Twitter in any way.
Stone is a philanthropy evangelist, and is known to publicize Twitter's ability to impact real social change. He also has his own foundation, the privately funded Biz and Livia Stone Foundation, which supports education and conservation efforts in California.
Alongside Stone's appointment, the company is also beginning a 30-day service challenge to encourage employees to volunteer in their communities.
In the same announcement, AOL also named John Montorio as culture and entertainment editor and ten more hires in the journalism team. Howard Fineman, previously senior political editor at HuffPo, was named editorial director of the Huffington Post Media Group.
Write to Shareen Pathak