DEI Rollbacks And The Hidden Costs: How Minority Women Can Still Thrive
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) rollbacks have been embraced by President Donald Trump’s administration, reversing decades of progress to create more equitable workplaces. As some major corporations, including Walmart, Amazon, and Google, scale back their DEI commitments, minority women are left to bear the brunt of the fallout.
With hiring freezes, budget cuts, and shifting corporate priorities, the advancements made in recent years are at risk of unraveling. However, setbacks don’t mean defeat. As DEI faces increasing scrutiny, what can minority women do to secure opportunities, advocate for themselves, and still thrive?
Dr. Angela Jackson, a Harvard University lecturer, founder of Future Forward Strategies, and author of The Win-Win Workplace: How Thriving Employees Drive Bottom-Line Results, offers her take how minority women leaders can still create inclusive environments that foster growth, and how professionals in the workforce can advocate for themselves despite the hurdles.
Her Agenda: What do you think about the DEI rollbacks, and how might they affect minority women professionals in general, from what you’re seeing as a professional, as a Black woman in business?
Dr. Angela Jackson: Not only do I own my own firm, but I’m also an academic and faculty at Harvard University, where I research corporations who are investing in their employees. And what we’re seeing is that while DEI programs are being scaled back, the data is still clear that diverse teams drive better business outcomes. And the reason why I keep hitting on that is because sometimes we forget that. The data is on our side, and so we really need to stay and continue to focus on that. Diverse teams are good for people. They are good for business.
Her Agenda: How can someone who is a minority woman professional — seeing all the news stories and you know, people are panicking and people are turning to fear — get more strategic in terms of, like, still thriving within what’s going on right now? What would be three great tips, especially considering the strategies you mentioned in your book.
Dr. Angela Jackson: The first thing we want to do is really think about how we continue to leverage our network when we think about women — and Black women in general — we’re likely to advance in our careers if we have sponsors who are supporting us and investing in us.
So if a formal program disappears, still try to maintain those relationships inside and outside of the company. They become more critical. Instead of waiting for someone else to do some matchmaking for you, it’s going to really be on us to take that step forward and find the people who not only want to invest in us and mentor us, but who actually want to sponsor us and say our name in rooms that we’re not in, for opportunities for us to be able to share our skills.
Her Agenda: That makes sense. Elaborate more on how to do that.
Dr. Angela Jackson: When we think about social networks and what’s happening in the workplace right now — the way structures are — if you think about men in the workplace or homogeneous workplaces, there are structures in place where people see each other socially. They’re golfing together. Their kids may go to the same school because they live in the same communities. Many times when you’re looking at hierarchical organizations, if you’re in one department, you may not have a chance to meet someone within a completely different department.
And so one thing that I advise women — also my students who are going to be emerging leaders in the world — [is to] do your research and find the people that you are deeply interested in. Research their field of expertise. You have to introduce yourself instead of waiting for someone else to put a structure together.
It was great that we had the [employee resource group] that brought people together. That doesn’t take out the need to really advocate for yourself and to be proactive in the workplace and find the people who not only want to mentor you, but who want to sponsor you, and again, say your name, promote you, talk about your skills, and give you applause and recognition when you may not be in the room, because that’s when big decisions are made.
Her Agenda: What if someone finds themselves to be a bit more introverted, or they’re entry level. What are some outside resources that you can also lean to to find community?
Dr. Angela Jackson: Find out what trade associations exist for your industry. A lot of times, these trade associations are nonprofits. They have built-in opportunities for people to volunteer and advance. A lot of these trade organizations are at the key conferences. They have senior people who are sponsors, and typically, they have opportunities that are built in to network you.
I’ll give you an example. Early in my career, I was in journalism and communications and television, and I was part of an organization called NAMIC. NAMIC New York gave me my first board position before I was even thinking I was ready for one. The skills that I was able to gain volunteering was with the senior people that I was able to meet through the organization. Those people became lifelong friends. They became mentors, and most importantly, they became sponsors who connected me to employment when I was raising my first fund for my company. They invested in my company — their time, but also their dollars. And those are the things that really matter.
