Women In Business Can Survive The New Anti-DEI Climate In Washington

Several major corporations, including Walmart, Ford, Lowe’s, Boeing, and Harley-Davidson, have scaled back their DEI and environmental, social, and governance programs in response to political and cultural backlash.

The past few weeks since the 2024 election have been worrisome as corporations like Walmart announced their retreat from DEI, and many others plan to follow suit, including major American universities are also considering what to do and how to do it relative to DEI, Free speech and many other freedoms that we as women have enjoyed in and outside of the workplace for the past several decades or more.

Several major corporations, including Ford, Lowe’s, Boeing and Harley-Davidson, have scaled back their DEI and environmental, social and governance programs in response to political and conservative activists legal and external pressures.

With all of the sudden and stated policy changes (see Project 2025) coming to Washington in 2025 by way of the newly elected Trump administration, and a new Republican controlled Congress women in small business, in the corporate-c suite, and beyond must brace for sweeping reversals to diversity, equity and inclusion practices.

The question on the table for us as women, is what are we going to do to both adapt to the new changes, and at the same time preserve the progress we have made and keep going forward toward the pay equity and true opportunity equality that we seek as women of the 21st century.

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Let’s be honest, the group that has made the most gains from affirmative action, which started in the late 1970’s through DEI in the late 1990’s-2000’s, is women, specifically white women. All of those gains are now in seeming jeapordy as the incoming Congress and administration campaigned on getting rid of so-called “wokeness” and “DEI hires” in the federal government, in the military, in universities, and pressuring corporate leaders to do the same. Walmart, seems to have gotten the message early and is now running for cover.

What a difference an election makes. Cases in point, on June 12, 2020, just days after George Floyd’s murder, Walmart’s CEO Doug McMillon emoted in a blog post about how the company’s goal was “to help replace the structures of systemic racism, and build in their place frameworks of equity and justice that solidify our commitment to the belief that, without question, Black Lives Matter.” And now just weeks after the 2024 election results, Walmart (who has up to this point been a global leader in DEI) shifted to a “we want to be a Walmart for everyone” posture.

And lest we forget that after the 2022 midterm elections, Republican Attorneys General started sending menacing letters to some of America’s biggest companies saying they would file lawsuits—

Here are a few things women in leadership, and who are in key positions whether in the federal government, academia or otherwise can do to make sure that we continue to make forward progress regardless of whether or not diversity, equity and inclusion programs are sanctioned or not:

1. Women must support other women. This is a must. Not optional. We must do as men have done for generations, and create a pipeline of mentors, sponsors and diverse recruits that we retain and advance in whatever industry we are in.
2. Women who hold power positions in industry and academia must not back away from institutional programs and support of diversity and inclusion. White women out earn their black and Latina counterparts, as do white men. They must advocate for their fellow women of color.
3. Men must be allies. Men are still the overwhelming leaders is positions of power in academia, industry and corporate America. As well as in the federal, state and local governments. We must build alliances with them, and keep close counsel on the importance of women being treated equally in the work place as well as given equality of opportunity.

These three steps must be embraced individually, institutionally, systemically, and most importantly consistently. If we want to get to a truly “meritorious” position, and create an America of opportunity and freedom for all of us then it starts with us as women, standing up for our progress, and standing up for the success of one another.