One year ago, I stepped away from my 15+ year career as a DEI expert to focus on my health and regain myself. Working in DEI was tremendously fulfilling, but equally as stressful - I can think of no other career that faces as much uninformed scrutiny as DEI. And, as it has grown traction, it has become more misunderstood and misinterpreted. Some say it went too far, and perhaps their right.
Last February, I published a blog “Please. Stop the attack on DEI and instead learn from this work,” in which I attempted to de-politicize DEI by explaining the role of DEI in business. I wrote that:
‘DEI is a profession that requires a complex understanding of the issues. It is sophisticated and nuanced. It is not what you see in the news. It is not only politics. It is not about “quotas” and filling spots (or taking spots from “more qualified” people).’
Unfortunately, this is what most people believe DEI is and that is wrong. And, the Executive Order is NOT saying that ALL DEI is illegal. It says that there is a subset of initiatives that are, and that DEI efforts need to comply with the law. This is very important to note and it is being lost in mass media and public opinion.
When I published my blog, I was trying to create stronger understanding of DEI – not what you hear on TV/read in the news – what DEI really is and what DEI professionals actually do. DEI is so much more.
The World Before a DEI Focus
In her dissent in SFFA, Justice Sotomayor pointed out that
“Diversity is now a fundamental American value, housed in our varied and multicultural community that only continues to grow.”
In my career and in my life, I have witnessed DEI practices help in very significant and necessary ways:
TV / Media: watch re-runs from the 1990s or 2000s and you will notice that the number shows featuring people of color were limited, at best, and there was little to no representation in television, magazines, clothing ads or any type of mainstream media. This was not representative of the actual world.
The humor in many of these programs was primitive and un-inclusive. I was recently watching old episodes of NYPD Blue and couldn’t believe how people interacted, how women were treated, how stereotypes perpetuated and what was acceptable. It was just 1993 when the Seinfeld episode aired with the famous slogan “not that there’s anything wrong with that” referring to the LGBTQ community.
Families: 20 years ago, when I met my Hispanic husband, people commented to me about the fact that he was Hispanic and I was Caucasian; in the 1960s when my parents met, my mother was looked down on for dating my Italian father. The LGBTQ+ community was only legally able to marry only one decade ago, in 2015.
Workplace culture: When I first started working in 1994, your home and work lives remained separate. I was also putting myself through college in the evenings, which added difficulties to balancing the two. Parents had to choose between work or career.
Later, in my early days of DEI work, we had to get leadership approval to put the Pride flag in the building lobby for Pride Week (it was not even yet Pride Month).
Over time, companies have realized that by enabling people to bring their whole selves to work and offering inclusive environments where people can freely discuss spouses (same sex or mixed), children, cultures, hobbies and their lives, the outcomes result in better understanding, innovation and productivity, for everyone. This is based on years of research by McKinsey, Deloitte and many others.
Disability and Mental Health: DEI has been instrumental in making the world more accessible for people with visible disabilities. As this work has evolved, it has expanded people with invisible illnesses, such as anxiety, OCD, PTSD, diabetes and others, providing people like me an outlet, benefits and other tools of support, as well as normalizing these topics.
Business, Government and Corporate America: The movie 9-5 was released in 1980 which tells the story of three working women who work for a boss who is defined as a ”sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot." The movie is steeped with gender stereotypes and is, unfortunately, in many ways indicative of the time. When you watch movies like this, you cannot deny the positive influence DEI efforts have had in creating more inclusive workplaces.
And the numbers don’t lie. The chart below published by Fortune shows the number of women CEOs since 1998; which on one hand has grown from <5 to 52 but is still only hovering around 10%. This is not because “women are just starting to work” – it is because of the efforts towards DEI at these companies.
Call it What You Want, the Business Case is Still There
Today, these mindsets and these examples of what used to be commonplace or acceptable has evolved, in big reason due to a focus on Inclusion. And yet, also in highest levels of leadership .….
Since 1789, there have been 45 U.S. presidents, none of whom were woman (and none LGBTQ or people of color, besides Barrack Obama)
According to a recent NALP Report on Diversity, in Biglaw:
Women represent a mere 23.7% equity partners
9.6% of partners are ethnically diverse
Black and Latina women partners each reached 1% for the first time
Only 2.57% of partners identified as LGBTQ+
In addition to women CEOs at Fortune 500, only:
Four are Black people (one Black woman)
Only two Hispanic women ever
In the top 20 beauty manufacturers, only 15% of CEOs are women
Look at most industries and find similar trends.
If these data points are not enough, recent findings show that 91% of workers have experienced discrimination related to race, gender, disability, age, or body size, and 94% of workers care about feeling a sense of belonging at work.
The data is there.... There is still work to be done, regardless of what you call it. When done correctly, DEI creates better workplaces for everyone.
DEI is Not, in Fact, Illegal
And from a legal perspective, DEI policies help protect from lawsuits. In the U.S., DEI became more widespread and scrutinized after nationwide protests in 2020, but those cases are far outnumbered by the thousands of more traditional discrimination lawsuits filed in state and federal courts each year. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, prohibits employment discrimination based on race, sex, religion, color and national origin and there are other laws prohibiting discrimination of disability, including pregnancy. By removing DEI policies, companies could find themselves in a position of violating anti-discrimination laws.
Making America Great
While right now the world is buzzing around “DEI being dead,” DEI has been around for decades and has been responsible for significant advancements towards making the world more inclusive. These are a few of so many examples where you can see outright both the historical successes and ongoing necessity of DEI. To make America truly great, whether you like it or not, bias continues to exist and without a continued focus on DEI, there will never be true meritocracy.
A focus on DEI is part of what makes America great.
DEI Living On
“DEI isn’t going away. It’s just changing,” said J. Danielle Carr, chief officer of inclusion at Lowenstein Sandler and president of the Association of Law Firm Diversity Professionals.
At the end of the day, the majority of companies who have trained DEI teams should not be impacted. DEI professionals are experts in their field and have built these initiatives in tandem with legal and human resource teams. And because DEI is and needs to be ever-evolving, it is always wise to conduct a regular self-audit of DEI efforts in partnership with legal counsel.
Learning from each other.
To further aid companies and individuals in understanding, experts Kenji Yoshino and David Glasgow recently co-authored a recent Harvard Business Review article outlining what shifts are necessary and cited these three criteria as most risky to a DEI program:
It confers a preference, meaning that some individuals are treated more favorably than others.
The preference is given to members of a legally protected group, such as groups defined by the categories protected in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These are race, color, religion, national origin, and sex (including sexual orientation and gender identity).
The preference relates to a palpable benefit, such as a job, a promotion, a pay raise, a work assignment, or access to training and development opportunities.
To those who may hate on DEI or not have a full understanding of how important this field really is, I urge you to get to know a little more about the profession of DEI. Below are links to some great articles. I am also happy to chat live and would love to discuss more. karlie@purposefullyworded.com
Finally, and maybe most importantly, to those who are still in DEI or related fields, I hope you will continue your great work but take care of yourselves. The past several years have been hard and it is only going to get harder. Reach out just to chat. I see you.
Articles of Interest:
Harvard Business Review 1/2025: What Comes After DEI
CNN Business 12/2024: DEI isn’t actually dead
Reuters 1/24/2025: Despite Trump order, abandoning DEI could land companies in legal trouble
Harvard Business Review 11/2024: What Trump’s Second Term Could Mean for DEI
Fortune 1/24/2015: Can Trump kill DEI? What business leaders need to know according to a top constitutional lawyer
Harvard Business Review 1/2025: DEI Is Under Attack. Here’s How Companies Can Mitigate the Legal Risks.
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