Where Does DEI Go from Here?

DEI is at a tipping point. Political pushback and corporate fear have dismantled initiatives once seen as untouchable. Mentions of DEI in corporate filings have dropped by two‑thirds, and high‑profile companies are retreating quietly. But this isn’t the end of inclusion—it’s the end of performative inclusion. The next era belongs to leaders who stop treating DEI as a program and start designing equity into the very operating system of their business.

This article lays out a practical playbook for building inclusion that can’t be dismantled, with examples of companies that lost ground by retreating—and those that quietly pulled ahead by embedding equity into their core systems.