Acronyms under Assault: a snapshot and what you can do
DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion)
What is happening
In the United States, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) are organizational frameworks that seek to promote the fair treatment and full participation of groups who have historically been underrepresented or discriminated against based on identity or disability, etc. These practices have their roots in the civil rights movement and have long been a part of corporate America and the public sector.
The Trump administration has aggressively attacked diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts across multiple sectors, including private businesses, charitable organizations, and higher education. Legal challenges and misinformation are being used to justify dismantling DEI programs. On January 20, 2025, an Executive Order titled Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing called DEI programs “illegal and immoral” and deemed them responsible for “immense public waste and discrimination”. Through a subsequent Executive Order titled Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity, the administration seeks to reverse five decades of progress. The executive orders call for an eradication of all DEI-based hiring practices, goals, policies mandates or requirements and instead rewards “individual initiative”. In addition to diversity, the administration demands that any and all “environmental justice” positions, grants and contracts be terminated.
Misconceptions
Despite the claims that DEI programs are illegal, they are not. It remains lawful for employers to implement diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility programs that seek to ensure workers of all backgrounds are afforded equal opportunity in the workplace. Further, DEI programming and initiatives are not inherently wasteful. As one example, corporate boards with diverse racial and gender compositions outperform boards lacking broader perspectives. A recent Harvard Law study found that firms with more racially diverse boards tend to have better performance, higher valuations, and lower risk. These findings align with reports from prominent management consulting firms which have often touted DEI in enhancing corporate performance.
Pushback
U.S. District Judge Adam Abelson in Baltimore granted a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from terminating or changing federal contracts they consider equity-related. Abelson’s ruling does allows the attorney general to investigate and prepare a report on DEI practices in accordance with one of the orders, but blocks enforcement. Abelson found that the orders likely carry constitutional violations, including against free-speech rights.
Despite this block, the directive is moving forward and has had an immediate ripple effect into the private sector. Major U.S. companies that are rolling back their DEI efforts include: Pepsi, Disney, Target, McDonald’s, Walmart, PBS, Google, Meta, Amazon, Boeing, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, Lowe’s, Chipotle, Comcast, PayPal, Starbucks and more. Companies publicly sticking to DEI include: Apple, Delta Air Lines, Costco, Procter & Gamble, Sephora and more.
What you can do
Support organizations like Democracy Forward, who is actively fighting legal battles against anti-DEI policies.
Encourage business leaders to speak out. Recent legal efforts have been successful in catalyzing administration compromise.
The People's Union USA has organized three, 24-hour spending blackout days. The organization is also calling for a 40-day boycott on Target, dubbed as the “Target fast” starting on March 5. Black faith leaders are also pushing for a 40-day boycott of Target as part of an effort to oppose companies abandoning DEI initiatives. “We've got to tell corporate America that there's a consequence for turning their back on diversity," said Bishop Reginald T. Jackson. “So let us send the message that if corporate America can't stand with us, we're not going to stand with corporate America.”
Boycott dates
24-hour spending blackouts: Feb. 28, March 28 and April 18
40-day Target boycott: March 5 to April 13
Amazon Blackout: March 7 to 14
Walmart Blackout: April 7 to 13
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)
What is happening
Right now if you navigate to the USAID website it reads:
“Notification of Administrative Leave: As of 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 23, 2025, all USAID direct hire personnel, with the exception of designated personnel responsible for mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programs, will be placed on administrative leave globally.”
Donald Trump and the cost-cutting Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) tied to billionaire Elon Musk have moved swiftly to shut down USAID, calling its programs “wasteful”. The Federal Agency provides economic and humanitarian aid to developing countries and seeks to end extreme poverty, promote democracy, and build resilience.
Last week, a Federal Judge cleared the way for one of the Trump administration’s remaining steps in its dismantling of USAID allowing it to move forward with pulling thousands of USAID staffers off the job domestically and around the world. His ruling comes in a broad lawsuit filed by unions on behalf of the agency staff, especially those at risk of being stranded abroad. In total, Trump officials will put 4,700 USAID employees on leave and eliminate 1,600 jobs.
Downstream impacts
While it's difficult to calculate the number of livelihoods that will be impacted globally through the stop-work order, one of the immediate impacts is on USAID-funded medical research. Thousands of people undergoing clinical trials (with experimental drugs and devices in their bodies) have been left with no access to monitoring or care. The Times has identified more than 30 frozen studies that had volunteers already in the care of researchers, including trials of:
malaria treatment in children under age 5 in Mozambique
treatment for cholera in Bangladesh
a screen-and-treat method for cervical cancer in Malawi
tuberculosis treatment for children and teenagers in Peru and South Africa
nutritional support for children in Ethiopia
early-childhood-development interventions in Cambodia
ways to support pregnant and breastfeeding women to reduce malnutrition in Jordan
an mRNA vaccine technology for H.I.V. in South Africa
Beyond that, many international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) rely on USAID funding for their programs. Organizations like Landesa, a top-rated, Seattle-based NGO, has been negatively impacted by recent changes at the State Department and stop orders on USAID funding. Some of the organization's development and land rights work in Bangladesh, the Maldives, Nepal, Colombia and Kenya has been halted.
What you can do
To support Federal workers, consider making a donation to the Federal Unionists Network (FUN) which is an informal association of federal unionists and allies seeking to stop DOGE’s attack on federal services. You can also encourage Federal workers to get in touch with EWOC.
The international NGO sector needs solidarity and support right now. Consider increasing your charitable distributions and frontloading your gifts to earlier in the year - as opposed to waiting until the fourth quarter like many folks do. Creative ways to give to NGOs with a U.S. tax ID number:
Gift appreciated stock: avoid capital gains taxes while gifting directly to a charitable organization.
If you’re of Required Minimum Distribution (RMD age), conduct Qualified Charitable Distributions from your IRA.
Don’t leave your Donor Advised Fund (DAF) money on the sidelines - get it deployed.
EPA, National Parks Service and U.S. Forest Service
What is happening
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose mission is to protect human health and the environment, has fired 388 probationary employees for “poor performance” without basis. Another 171 staffers are now on administrative leave, mostly teams responsible for DEI and environmental justice.
The Trump administration also abruptly fired at least 1,000 Park Service employees and at least 3,000 people from the U.S. Forest Service, which often works in concert with the Park Service. Further, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ousted all members of the agency’s most influential science advisory panels. The decision has been made to “reset” the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and Science Advisory Board.
Questions remain about the fate of the EPA’s $27 Billion Investment in Greenhouse Gas Reductions which was finalized in 2024. Now, more than 200 planned investments intended to help finance clean energy and climate-related projects in underserved communities may be at risk. The uncertainty and delays could affect long-term plans for businesses and communities counting on the program. In the coming months, more than $1 billion in investments is scheduled to close, including funds for affordable home construction projects and solar farms in Native and rural communities.
Protests
Over the weekend, a group of protesters hung a 30 by 50 foot inverted American flag (historically used as a sign of distress) off the side of El Capitan at Yosemite National Park. The upside-down flag drew widespread attention on social media because hundreds of visitors were photographing an annual phenomenon in the park known as firefall - a phenomenon that occurs if there has been enough snow and rain to fuel the waterfall that creates the illusion of lava during sunset.
What you can do
In addition to supporting the Federal Unionists Network (FUN):
Call your representatives and share your disdain for what’s unfolding. Check out the 5 calls app - “the easiest and most effective way for U.S. constituents to make a political impact.”
Direct request from a friend who works for the EPA: "Instead of asking if federal employees are okay, ask how you can help, because we are not okay. Check in to see how we’re doing. Offer to grab dinner or meet up for coffee. Organize a hike or a game night. We need community now, more than ever, especially our coworkers who were cruelly terminated last week”.
Donate to tribal organizations like the Sacred Defense National Parks & Monuments Initiative managed by the Lakota People’s Law Project. Many national parks overlap with the ancestral territories of Indigenous Peoples that have been working to steward these lands since time immemorial. This page allows you to see which parks overlap with tribal funding needs including Yellowstone, Yosemite and Zion.
Give to environmental nonprofits. According to recent data, only a small percentage of charitable donations go towards environmental causes, with estimates suggesting that environmental nonprofits receive less than 2% of total charitable dollars in the U.S.
ESG Investing
What is happening
The practice of using environmental, social and governance (ESG) data to inform investment decision making for stocks, bonds and other vehicles has been the bread and butter of socially responsible investing for decades. Over the last several years, ESG has gone “mainstream”, with most major asset managers providing ESG-based products to their customers and most institutional investors considering ESG risk when making investment decisions.
Put simply, ESG is a framework for providing investors with environmental, social and governance-related (think corporate board composition) data that helps clarify business risk and opportunity. Corporate supply chains and business models are intrinsically-linked to the natural world and human beings. Investments do not live in a standalone vacuum outside of social or environmental “externalities” and ESG investing attempts to consider investments holistically within these contexts.
The debate around ESG has once again dominated the media following President Trump’s return to office. Trump has made his feelings towards green initiatives clear, and we have already seen reactions from several key players in asset management – including BlackRock, J.P. Morgan, and Bank of America – in departing from the Net-Zero Banking Alliance.
Legal frontlines
State pension ESG legislation varies by state, with some states encouraging ESG factors and others restricting them. Colorado, Illinois, Maine, and Maryland have passed legislation encouraging public pension funds to consider ESG factors. But Anti-ESG legislation at the state level is on the rise. Oklahoma and Florida have passed legislation requiring plan managers to stop investing in companies that incorporate ESG policies. Texas has banned governmental agencies from engaging with companies that boycott energy companies. Several lawsuits have followed.
The courts are a frontline for protecting both DEI & ESG. Investors should view legal action as a necessary defense of corporate and social responsibility values. Businesses and investors must stay engaged and resilient, ensuring ESG consideration remains a core business strategy rather than a political liability.
Corporate governance
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) is the “gorilla” of corporate governance and a leading provider of responsible investment solutions for U.S. institutional investors. On February 11, ISS said that they will no longer consider race or gender in their board of director recommendations, stating:
“In light of these developments, ISS will indefinitely halt consideration of certain diversity factors in making vote recommendations with respect to directors at U.S. companies under its proprietary Benchmark and Specialty policies. Specifically and for shareholder meeting reports published on or after February 25th, ISS will no longer consider the gender and racial and/or ethnic diversity of a company’s board when making vote recommendations with respect to the election or re-election of directors…”
The New York City Retirement Systems is a client of ISS. Comptroller Brad Lander recently commented , “ISS knows that diverse boards help companies perform better and they have helped build the evidence proving the case. I can only conclude that they are afraid of the increased regulation that the SEC sought to enact during the first Trump Administration.”
Sustainable investing is here to stay
Political posturing will undoubtedly continue to drive much debate throughout this DOGE-influecned Trump presidency. While firms may choose to market funds differently to avoid the headache and costs associated with the ESG debate, investors will continue to demand transparency regarding how their money is invested. The operational, regulatory, and legal infrastructure architecture for responsible investing remains strong even with an outwardly controversial label.
While ESG data is imperfect and certainly not a standalone solution, it persists as a useful tool for for improving corporate accountability.
What you can do
Continue screening your investments and divest - check out As You Sow’s Invest Your Values tool.
Vote your proxies - check out As You Sow’s 2024 Proxy Voting Guidelines.
Read our 2024 blog for more ideas: 10 Ways to Advance Social Equity through Investing.
Reach out to the Humanize Wealth team to further explore how you can participate in values-based investing and activate your wealth for positive social and environmental outcomes.
Sadly, these are just some of the agencies and sectors being impacted. USA today provides a comprehensive list as of February 24, 2025 which includes: Department of Education, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Agriculture (USDA) and more.