Two years ago chief diversity officers were some of the hottest hires into executive ranks. Now, they increasingly feel left out in the cold. Companies including Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery have recently said that high-profile diversity, equity and inclusion executives will be leaving their jobs.

Social equity impacts us all — and all of us can make an impact to influence positive change.

The complaints have been rolling in since spring. McDonald’s, Hershey and Alaska Airlines were targets, as were Anheuser-Busch and Nordstrom. Each was filed by a conservative legal group founded by a former adviser to Donald Trump, each alleging that diversity initiatives at companies are discriminatory, illegal and symptomatic of wokeness run amok.

The Supreme Court determined colleges and universities can no longer use race as a factor in their college admissions, removing affirmative action from academics—and some businesses could find their own hiring practices suddenly under new scrutiny.

For years, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, has crusaded for stakeholder capitalism, the idea that business leaders should value the well-being of people and the planet along with the interests of shareholders.

Many organizations genuinely aim to create inclusive work environments that provide all employees with a sense that they belong and will be given an equal opportunity to succeed.

Companies’ mentions of green and social initiatives during earnings calls have fallen off sharply in recent quarters, reversing a more boastful approach taken over the past few years amid intensifying pressure from some investors and conservative activists.  Take electronic-signature firm DocuSign, where Chief Financial Officer Cynthia Gaylor in March 2022 said the company achieved carbon-neutral status during the year ended that January. Gaylor, who is set to step down as CFO on June 15, at the time said the company was continuing its efforts to reach net-zero emissions no later than 2050. 

To call it a surprise would be an understatement. My seven-year-old daughter had verbal skills so advanced they took adults by noticeable surprise.

After graduating from Stanford University in 1983, Jeff Gennette joined the executive training program at Macy’s. He says public disapproval of homosexuality made many in the gay community wary of identifying themselves at work, especially during the AIDS/HIV crisis. Not Gennette, even after he was warned that his openness about his sexual orientation could hamper his career.