WASHINGTON – Today, the nation’s leading civil rights organizations, representing women, people of color, people with disabilities and the LGBTQ+ community, issued a call to action to Fortune 1000 executives and board members to remain steadfast in their commitments to workplace inclusion and the inherent risks in abandoning decades-long best practices. Signers on the letter include the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, NAACP, American Association of People with Disabilities, Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, UnidosUS, National Women's Law Center, National Urban League, the National Organization for Women, and other major civil rights organizations.

The letter makes the long recognized case that diversity, equity and inclusion best practices are not only essential for business success, they are needed to drive the future economy. The organizations write that with overwhelming public support, backing workplace inclusion efforts is not political. Instead, backtracking on inclusion commitments risks negative long-term business consequences. Business executives and board members must lead by rejecting pressure campaigns from politically motivated bad actors seeking to undermine business success.

The letter reads in part:

​​”Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success -- ultimately shirking fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers, and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company’s performance overall.”

The letter follows statements released last week by Fortune 500 executives Jamie DImon at J.P Morgan, David Cordani at The Cigna Group, Tim Murphy at Mastercard, Inc, and Ryan Lance at ConocoPhillips, in support of their company’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts and the role they play in their financial success and achieving their business objectives.

The data on diversity and inclusion is clear:

• Washington Post Poll: 6 in 10 Americans support diversity and inclusion programs.

• McKinsey: Companies in top quartile for gender and ethnic diversity significantly outperform their competitors.

• According to new data from Edelman, 60 percent of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining them as an employee. That’s up 9 points from 2022.

• August 2024 data from the HRC Foundation LGBTQ+ Climate Survey found that 80% of LGBTQ+ consumers are not only opting to boycott companies that are rolling back inclusion initiatives, but more than half will urge others to do so also, taking their concerns to social media or sharing negative company reviews. For employees at companies walking back their commitments to inclusion, nearly 20% of LGBTQ+ employees said that they would quit working for that company or start looking for a new job and one-third of LGBTQ+ employees said their productivity would suffer.

• GLAAD: Americans are nearly twice as likely to say they would want to back companies facing criticism for supporting people in the LGBTQ+ community, rather than their critics.

The coalition letter calls on business executives to lead:

“When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested by politically motivated, anti-business forces, CEOs and corporate board members must defend them unequivocally. To be clear, women workers, people of color and disabled workers aren’t making political statements when they show up to work and ask for equal policies, benefits and treatment. By abandoning best practice programs to support these workers, you not only capitulate to political forces and disregard what’s good for your bottom line, but you introduce risks of discrimination and bias to your employees and your company.”

The letter was signed by the following national organizations: Advocates for Trans Equality, American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Asian Americans Advancing Justice - AAJC, Asians Fighting Injustice, Color Of Change, Family Equality, GLAAD, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign Foundation, League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), NAACP, National Action Network, National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE), National Organization for Women, National Partnership for Women & Families, National Urban League, National Women’s Law Center, PFLAG National, SAGE, UnidosUS.

The full letter can be found here and below:

Diversity, equity and inclusion programs, policies, and practices make business-sense and they’re broadly popular among the public, consumers, and employees. But a small, well-funded, and extreme group of right-wing activists is attempting to pressure companies into abandoning their DEI programs.

Recently, some CEOs have caved and announced their company’s divestment from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

These capitulations weaken businesses and the American economy more broadly. And, these shortsighted decisions make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans. Meanwhile this exposes businesses to legal risk by increasing the likelihood of bias and discrimination within organizations.

Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success -- ultimately shirking fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers, and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company’s performance overall.

A survey of 1,039 companies with at least $15 billion in annual revenue showed that companies at the top quartile for both gender and ethnic diversity are 12% more likely to outperform all other companies. There is also a penalty for lagging on diversity which has only gotten larger with time. Companies in the bottom quartile of executive diversity on gender and ethnicity underperform all other companies by 27%. (Diversity Wins: How Inclusion Matters, McKinsey & Company 2020 report)

Critically, these decisions are not supported by your employees. According to an Edelman survey in 2024, 60% percent of people say an inclusive work culture with a well-supported diversity program is critical to attracting and retaining them as an employee -- that’s up 9 points from 2022. In addition, according to Pew, only 16 percent of employees think focusing on DEI “is a bad thing.”

Furthermore, divestment from DEI will alienate diverse consumer segments including women, people of color, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ+ community. Women control an estimated two-thirds of global consumer spending and are projected to control two-thirds of all consumer wealth within the next decade, with estimates ranging from $12 trillion to $40 trillion. Today, Black consumers hold $1.7 trillion in purchasing power and the LGBTQ+ community wields $1.4 trillion in spending power.

Future-proofing businesses also means recognizing the increasing diversity of consumers and employees. One-in-four GenZers are Hispanic, 14% are Black, 6% are Asian, 5% are some other race or multiple races, and 30% are LGBTQ+ identified. Our nation's disabled population continues to grow: recent CDC data showed the number of disabled adults in the United States grew, from 61 million in 2018 to 70 million in 2024, or more than 1 in 4 Americans (28.7%). This immense financial influence by populations often served by DEI programs are seen across various sectors, from consumer goods to financial services, demonstrating that DEI is a critical driver of business.

Put simply, hastily abandoning efforts that ensure fair, safe, and inclusive work environments is bad for business, unpopular and unwise. As business leaders who helped to build DEI programs, you know it's good business, and we have the receipts that show it.

At this moment, we call on business leaders and corporate board members to lead.

When values of diversity, equity and inclusion are tested by politically motivated, anti-business forces, CEOs and corporate board members must defend them unequivocally. To be clear, women workers, people of color and disabled workers aren’t making political statements when they show up to work and ask for equal policies, benefits and treatment. By abandoning best practice programs to support these workers, you not only capitulate to political forces and disregard what’s good for your bottom line, but you introduce risks of discrimination and bias to your employees and your company.

We welcome your partnership and understand the safety risks posed by bad actors are serious -- these are threats that impact us all. Backing down from long-standing commitments only serves to empower those who threaten your workers and customers. We call on business leaders to speak out publicly, defending decades long, pro-business decisions to support inclusion. Your trusted voices together will future proof the business community against anti-business, politically motivated extremists.

The Human Rights Campaign Foundation is the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ+) people. Through its programs, the HRC Foundation seeks to make transformational change in the everyday lives of LGBTQ+ people, shedding light on inequity and deepening the public’s understanding of LGBTQ+ issues, with a clear focus on advancing transgender and racial justice. Its work has transformed the landscape for more than 15 million workers, 11 million students, 1 million clients in the adoption and foster care system and so much more. The HRC Foundation provides direct consultation and technical assistance to institutions and communities, driving the advancement of inclusive policies and practices; it builds the capacity of future leaders and allies through fellowship and training programs; and, with the firm belief that we are stronger working together, it forges partnerships with advocates in the U.S. and around the globe to increase our impact and shape the future of our work.