"When you have the president blaming DEI for a plane crash, I think it makes sense that companies don't want to be out there no matter how they define it internally," Emerson said.
Despite DEI becoming such a divisive term, companies are not necessarily ending their efforts. They're rebranding them. Many companies are continuing DEI work but using different language or rolling it under less charged terminology, like "learning" or "hiring."
Paradigm’s CEO Joelle Emerson is an advocate for diversity and inclusion.