February 2024 DEI Committee Blog

Responding to DEI Pushback

At the February 2024 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee meeting, WGR members gathered to discuss the climate of escalating pushback against DEI initiatives. Headlines are circulating on DEI fatigue, attacks against DEI initiatives, and a range of cutbacks and legal action against DEI strategies playing out across college campuses, large corporations, and nonprofits. For those of us dedicated to the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion, this political moment feels like a split screen: in the midst of a concerted, organized effort to advance a future that embodies our shared values, we are witnessing another concerted, organized effort pushing back against the progress made.

DEI Committee Corresponding Secretary Denise Murphy McGraw and WGR Board Member Gamble Hayden had an armchair conversation to unpack the pushback. They challenged the “zero sum” thinking– which assumes one must be held back in order for another to succeed– driving hostility to DEI efforts, highlighting Heather McGee's important research on the ways we all benefit from dismantling systems of oppression. They also lifted up key insights on Battling DEI Fatigue, including the awareness that DEI is a long-game. Resting and celebrating small victories are critical to staying the course and realizing meaningful change.

In honor of Black History Month, our discussion elevated the role of Black leadership in the story of the DEI Committee, which has been directed, nurtured, and strengthened by Black WGR members since its inception in 2018. In the words of Angela Davis, “We celebrate Black history…because it is a centuries-old struggle to achieve and expand freedom for us all.” Likewise, the WGR DEI Committee has always worked in solidarity across interrelated movements advancing DEI.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are values. The shared goal of organizations and individuals committed to DEI, like Women in Government Relations and its members, is to enact those values in ways that further justice in our workplaces and broader world. In my five years supporting the work of this committee, I can report that our strategies are not beyond critique– quite the opposite! An essential part of our purpose within WGR is to solicit and respond to feedback on ways this organization can improve. Critique has been the engine for invaluable learning and evolution, from a standalone initiative into a collaborative hub that informs every aspect of the organization. Read more about WGR’s DEI Strategy and a recap of 2023 DEI Committee Activity.

As I listened to this month’s discussion, I was reminded of the words from Robi Damelin, bereaved Israeli spokesperson of the Parents Circle – Family Forum who said at a sixth & i event earlier this year: “You can’t kill an idea. You must change the circumstances– otherwise, you will have the same thing by another name.” Until the circumstances of underrepresentation, inequity, and exclusion change, the necessary and complex work of DEI initiatives will continue. 

We invite you to continue the conversation by registering TODAY for WGR’s 5th Annual Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Summit taking place May 8-9th. https://www.wgr.org/page/DEI_Summit_Registration

We welcome all WGR members to join DEI Committee Meetings on the third Tuesday of each month. Register here for the next meeting on March 19th from 11:30 - 1pm Eastern Time. For more information on WGR’s DEI Committee, please reach out to dei.wgr@gmail.com.

DEI Committee Chair Larkin Willis authored this month’s blog.