The Academy ups diversity, invites 928 members including Mindy Kaling, Tiffany Haddish

In sync with their 2016 goal to include celebrities from all genders, race and colour, Academy has invited a whole new class of members -- 928 people in all making history with this huge number. The group consists of a diverse group including the Girls Tripstar, as well as Emilia Clarke, Mindy Kaling, Kendrick Lamar, and JK Rowling.

Out of 928 new members, 49 per cent of them are women and 38 per cent are people of colour, according to statistics provided by the organization.

With the inclusion of these members, the overall female membership has gone up to 31 per cent -- a jump from the 25 per cent in 2015. Also, the overall membership for people of colour is now up to 16 per cent, up from 8 per cent in 2015. Apart from this, nine of the branches, including executives and producers, invited more women than men.

Bringing a change into the age diversity in its members, there is now the inclusion of 14-year-old Quvenzhané Wallis who is the youngest, while the oldest invited is 86.

The new members come from 59 different countries and include South Korean actress Doona Bae, Algerian actress Sofia Boutella, and Indian actor Ali Fazal.

New directors invited include Sean Baker (The Florida Project), Justin Simien (Dear White People), and Chloé Zhao (The Rider).

Among executives, there are DC Films chief Walter Hamada, Netflix documentary and comedy czar Lisa Nishimura, and Paramount communications executive Chris Petrikin.

The actor’s branch also invited Timothée Chalamet, Dave Chappelle, Ann Dowd, and Blake Lively.