Apple's Vice President of Inclusion and Diversity Denise Young Smith issued an apology to her team members on Saturday after the executive received backlash for her comments on diversity in the workplace during the One Young World summit in Bogotá, Colombia.

During the summit, Smith was asked if she plans on focusing on increasing diversity within her company which is only 9 percent black. Her response left a lot of us a little confused.

"There can be 12 white, blue-eyed, blond men in a room and they're going to be diverse, too, because they're going to bring a different life experience and life perspective to the conversation."

The executive – who has been Apple's VP of Inclusion and Diversity since May – received major backlash from diversity advocates and commentators after this statement. Tech Crunch obtained Smith's emailed apology, in which she said to her team she has always been proud to be a part of the Apple team because of their efforts to create an inclusive culture.

She went on to say, "Last week, while attending a summit in Bogota, I made some comments as part of a conversation on the many factors that contribute to diversity and inclusion. I regret the choice of words I used to make this point. I understand why some people took offense. My comments were not representative of how I think about diversity or how Apple sees it. For that, I’m sorry."

Smith has been with Apple for many years being first promoted by Steve Jobs to a position leading Retail Human Resources and then again earlier this year to her current position as VP of Inclusion & Diversity by CEO Tim Cook. Smith also pioneered the company's partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, which supports HBCU students with $40 million in funding to foster and hire students who graduate from HBCUs.

Read Smith's full apology on Tech Crunch.