This month’s DEI legal and cultural landscape reflects both rising scrutiny and resilient corporate resolve. While the anticipated “DEI watchlist” from the U.S. Attorney General’s office never materialized, the underlying tension remains high. What’s changed? The playbook. Companies and communicators are recalibrating, strategically aligning values with action, protecting programs within the law, and standing their ground publicly.
📉 Legal, Risk & Policy: Prepare for the Gray Area
- DOJ’s Civil Rights Fraud Initiative is ramping up scrutiny of any organization receiving federal funds that may be violating civil rights laws via DEI programs. Legal leaders are using Kenji Yoshino’s “3Ps” to assess program risk: Preference, Protected class, and Palpable benefit.
- Page members should check out Shari Dunn’s Substack series on legal FAQs for DEI (including ERGs, recruiting, and training) and Rachel Cohen’s “DEI is not illegal” toolkits.
- DOJ Announcement | Shari Dunn’s Legal DEI Q&A | Rachel Cohen’s Tools
🧭 Strategic Messaging: Standing Ground with Clarity
- Companies like Merck and McDonald’s are defending their DEI strategies—not just as moral imperatives, but as business-critical drivers. Merck notably refused to drop inclusion-linked executive incentives.
- Microsoft and Oracle are shifting legal work away from firms complying with anti-DEI political pressure.
- NPR’s CEO vowed to challenge federal funding cuts in court, and Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Ben Cohen reminded us that principled pushback is often good business.
“This isn’t partisan—it’s principled.” That line stood out from this month’s recap. Strategic communicators can take a cue from how values-first companies are responding to uncertainty: with clarity, courage, and consistency.
→ Axios: Reputation Boost for DEI Holdouts
- Interactive shareholder proposal tool reveals growing consumer interest in how companies vote on DEI—yes, consumers are reading proxy statements now.
- Training opportunity: DAA’s Inclusive Communications Leadership Certification (Fall start)
- Comms Playbook: Try the National Council of Nonprofits’ messaging guide or Vernā Myers’ list of measurable DEI outcomes
→ Shareholder DEI Tracker (Yahoo Finance)
→ DAA ICLC Program Info
🔍 Research to Guide the Next Move
- “Risks of Retreat” (Catalyst): 68% of C-suite leaders say retreating from DEI increases legal risk
- MIT Sloan makes the case that “merit” requires diversity to function
- Anthem Awards Report and Axios both show DEI’s positive impact on brand value
→ Catalyst: Risks of Retreat | MIT Sloan on DEI & Merit
June Signatory Resources: DAA
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