The list of CEOs who are publicly backing their companies’ DEI policies is growing.
Deutsche Bank CEO Christian Sewing is the latest, joining JPMorgan’s Jamie Dimon and Goldman Sachs’ David Solomon in publicly defending DEI programs amid wider external criticism of diversity initiatives from conservative activists and President Donald Trump’s new administration.
One of Trump’s first executive orders placed federal DEI staffers on administrative leave as work began to dismantle their departments.
The pullback on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the private sector began before Trump took office. A slew of companies — including Meta, Walmart, and McDonald’s — either reduced or ended their own DEI initiatives. Some had been targeted by conservative activist groups.
However, amid the tensions around DEI, some executives are taking a public stance in support of their firms’ policies.
Deutsche Bank
In a Frankfurt press conference on Thursday, Sewing said his company was “firmly behind” its DEI programs, calling them “integral” to its strategy.
“Quite honestly, I know what diversity has brought us on the management board at the top reporting level,” Sewing said. “That’s why we are strong supporters of these programs.”
If the legality of DEI programs should ever change, the bank might reevaluate its stance, he added.
“But in terms of our basic attitude, in terms of our mindset, both issues — whether it’s diversity policy, inclusion, or sustainability — are an integral part of Deutsche Bank’s strategy,” he said.
JPMorgan
Dimon was defiant in the face of apparent targeting from activist shareholders over the company’s DEI programs.
“Bring them on,” he told CNBC on January 22. “We are going to continue to reach out to the Black community, the Hispanic community, the LGBT community, the veterans community.”
Goldman Sachs
Solomon said that while he’d heard of shareholder proposals, he hadn’t yet reviewed them.
“We’re advising our clients. They think about these things,” Solomon said in a separate interview with CNBC on January 22. “They think about decarbonization, they think about climate transition. They think about their businesses, how they find talent, the diversity of the talent they find all over the world.”
Goldman Sachs’ stated inclusion goals are geared toward funneling more women into leadership positions, making “progress towards racial equity,” and ensuring diversity both among its vendors and in its boardroom.
Cisco
In an interview with Axios on January 22, Chuck Robbins, the CEO of Cisco, said that a diverse workforce being better was an inarguable fact.
“I think the pendulum swings a little wide in both directions. And for us, it’s about finding the equilibrium,” Robbins said, adding: “You cannot argue with the fact that a diverse workforce is better.”
Robbins added that DEI was being discussed as “single issue” but that he believed it’s far more complex. “And in reality, it’s made up of 150 different things, and maybe seven of them got a little out of hand,” he said. “I think those six or seven things are going to get solved, and then you’re going to be left with common sense.”
Costco
Costco has been clear about its support for DEI, even as it faces mounting pressure from conservative groups to walk back its policies.
Nearly all of Costco’s shareholders rejected a proposal by the National Center for Public Policy Research last week that was similar to the one received by JPMorgan. It would have required Costco to issue a report on the legal and financial risks of DEI policies.
“The overwhelming support of our shareholders’ vote really puts an answer to that question,” Costco CEO Ron Vachris said.
Costco’s board has also previously issued statements reaffirming the company’s dedication to DEI.
“Our commitment to an enterprise rooted in respect and inclusion is appropriate and necessary,” the board wrote in December.
The company continues to face scrutiny for its policies, as 19 Republican attorneys general sent a letter to Vachris urging him to end what they called “divisive and discriminatory DEI practices.”
The post The list of CEOs voicing support for their companies’ DEI initiatives is growing appeared first on Business Insider.
