Among the torrent of executive actions issued by President Trump in his first week was the widely condemned executive order eliminating DEI offices in government, and imploring federal employees to identify anyone doing DEI-related work. The impacts have ripple effects across multiple sectors. Target announced it would eliminate its DEI programs and discontinue expansion of Black suppliers. Even the FDIC ended its search for experts to instruct employees on sexual harassment. Less discussed is the detrimental effect Trump’s edict will have on nonprofits even as advances in diversity within the sector have seen encouraging but fragile results.
Though the killing of George Floyd is often used as a shorthand timestamp for the launch of DEI policy, the origins can be traced to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that called for more inclusive representation in the public and private sectors. Over the next five decades, DEI expanded the definition of underrepresented groups and further codified their protections.
But the movement to eliminate the benefits of DEI have been years in the making, and led by conservative groups like the Heritage Foundation who believed that modern DEI efforts were an overcorrection beginning in the civil rights era and rooted in identity politics. Arguments against the policy were erroneously couched in frequent targets like critical race theory and “woke” orthodoxy. But as charitable organizations on the front lines of supporting disadvantaged groups during fluctuations in economic and political cycles expand their social justice mission, the articulation and implementation of clear goals will be hampered greatly by the president’s actions.
Staffing and hiring practices that create a more diverse work environment have already lagged substantially at a time when DEI training may be central to retaining nonprofit staff. Fifteen years ago, roughly 82% of nonprofit employees in the U.S. were white. In 2023, only 30% of senior leaders were people of color. A recent survey of nonprofit staffers reported that 70% of respondents believed harmful stereotypes are still perpetuated in programming and service delivery.
Trump’s order also comes at a time when Black women are leaving nonprofit leadership roles at alarming rates which prompted Danielle Moss Lee who now leads Oliver Scholars to say “we need demonstrable, decisive action in support of Black women’s leadership in this sector” to eschew the historical color-blind approach of philanthropies and nonprofits which has typically underfunded groups of color.
The president’s sweeping order also raises questions about whether even fostering a more inclusive culture on the job would trigger a violation of the law. At a town hall for nonprofits I hosted at Columbia’s School of Professional Studies, Ana Oliveira, President and CEO of the New York Women’s Fund said that the chilling effect and internalization of fear are already taking place but that it should not deter efforts to decolonize (supporting more diverse and inclusive intentions around giving) philanthropy.
At the same time, the risk of litigation is ever present and rose significantly after a recent case of Atlanta-based nonprofit, Fearless Fund, whose goal of helping African-Americans gain access to capital, was challenged to be explicitly exclusionary in a lawsuit by conservative activist Edward Blum and American Alliance for Equal Rights in 2023.
Another outcome of DEI’s eradication at the federal level is the impact on religious institutions which have historically addressed food and housing insecurity, addiction and social welfare. There is a danger that now, only Christian “norms and values” may be imposed as the standard and effectively create a “cultural erasure” by neglecting other faiths.
Nonprofits have always served an important function in society. They help develop democratic capacity, educate and problem solve. But doing so among, and for the benefit of, marginalized groups will likely draw the ire of the new administration much the same way it has in government and the private sector.
Developing a tool kit that helps diversify boards and funding streams, eliminates give/get requirements for board members, expands networks, strengthens bylaws to enforce DEI accountability and better reflects the communities served are some of the ways nonprofits can survive and enhance their mission during these uncertain times.
Basil A. Smikle Jr., Ph.D., is a professor of practice at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies and director of the M.S. Program in Nonprofit Management.
