The DEI pendulum may be swinging back to the middle after unbridled enthusiasm a few years ago, followed by a recent rapid whip to anti-DEI sentiment bolstered by the Supreme Court ruling in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and the current administration’s wide-ranging attacks on DEI. The National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR) filed several shareholder proposals this AGM season to eliminate DEI programs in various companies. It hasn’t gone well for them. The latest, as reported by ESG Today, is Goldman Sachs:
“Goldman Sachs shareholders overwhelmingly rejected two anti-DEI proposals directing the company to consider eliminating its diversity, equity and inclusion-based compensation incentives for executives and to review legal and reputational risks stemming from the firm’s DEI policies, with each proposal receiving only 2% shareholder support at Goldman Sachs’ annual meeting on Wednesday…
Shareholders have rejected several anti-DEI proposals over the past several months despite the shifting legal landscape however, including other NCPPR proposals at companies including Apple and Deere.”
Others following suit recently include Apple, Disney, Costco, Levi Strauss, Visa, and Boeing. Informal unconfirmed reporting also indicates Pfizer’s anti-DEI proposal was soundly beaten down at their April 24 AGM. See BoardroomAlpha’s shareholder proposal results tracker here.
There are positive signs in the public space as well – last week, The New York Times wrote
“A federal judge in New Hampshire limited on Thursday the Trump administration’s ability to withhold federal funds from public schools that have certain diversity and equity initiatives.
The judge, Landya B. McCafferty, said that the administration had not provided an adequately detailed definition of ‘diversity, equity and inclusion,’ and that its policy threatened to restrict free speech in the classroom while overstepping the executive branch’s legal authority over local schools.”
Finally, over on CompensationStandards.com, Meredith wrote:
“Few CHROs [Chief Human Resources Officers] reported that they expect their companies to decrease the following:
- Employee resource group programs (4%)
- Mentorship programs (10%)
- Training (23%)
However, over half reported that they expect their companies to decrease these things:
- Participation in outside culture surveys (51%)
- Tying DEI metrics to executive pay (53%)
- Setting public quantitative goals (64%)
With respect to DEI metrics, this is consistent with trends we’ve seen in 2025 proxy statements so far. Liz recently shared that the prevalence of diversity measures dropped from 65% in 2023 to 35% in 2024 in the first 100 proxies filed by S&P 500 companies and several others disclosed their planned discontinuation for 2025 compensation programs.”
It has been a difficult 18-24 months in the DEI space no doubt. Maybe – just maybe – we’re starting to see things move to center, taking negative pressure off organizations so they can do what is right for them.
Members can read about a range of DEI topics, such as Gender, Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation.
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