Saturday Night Live is finally making changes in the writer's room that have been a long time coming.

While the addition of Sasheer Zamata to the cast was a start, the news seemed more like a publicity stunt to appease the backlash that arose when SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels simply said that casting a black comedienne "will happen" when questioned about it back in November. Now, hiring two female writers, on the other hand, seems more like a step forward towards diversity (both in the non-white and non-male regard).

LaKendra Tookes and Leslie Jones are those two women hired as new writers for the long-running sketch comedy series. Both were discovered after a string of auditions in New York and Los Angeles; the pair will begin working for the show starting on Monday.

There's no word yet as to whether Tookes or Jones will be appearing onstage, but several prominent writers in the past have made such a transition (i.e. Jason Sudeikis, Mike O'Brien).