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.

How can a story uplift social equity? Based on our backgrounds and identities, we’re all part of different social groups. These groups we find ourselves in can mean deep-rooted advantage or disadvantage, in terms of access to resources and opportunities — and gaps in how we’re perceived and evaluated. At…

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. The ruling means universities cannot use race to pursue diversity initiatives—which is something employers…

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. These “woke” beliefs – Salesforce offered to relocate employees who were concerned about being able to get an…

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. Conscious or unconscious stereotypes—based on employees’ identities or social-group memberships—can lead to biased decisions, which can prevent organizations from hiring, developing, and…

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. The company’s executives haven’t mentioned sustainability initiatives, carbon-neutral status or net-zero emissions on its earnings calls since. A DocuSign spokeswoman didn’t comment on why executives haven’t discussed such topics on recent earnings calls, but said the company continues to make investments in its environmental, social and governance programs and regularly updates investors and customers on its initiatives.

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. She could command a room of strangers with confidence and a fluidity of language equal to anyone. One adult speaking of her said, “I always find myself doing what she tells me to do, because she makes really good points!”

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…