If this is the end of D&I, what comes next?

The U.S. executive order rolling back D&I efforts has triggered real fear for many. I’ve seen the concern, the quiet panic: “What does this mean for the work we’ve been doing? Does this set us back by decades? Are we really going to erase the words ‘diversity and inclusion’ from company strategies?”
Or straight up: “What nonsense is this?!”

Across sectors, people are now reworking language, avoiding terms, or being told to “move on.” That’s tough, especially for those who’ve poured heart and effort into this work, not as a trend, but as a principle.

But I need to offer some tough love (my coach’s words, now mine).
Let’s be honest with ourselves: have we really done our best?
Like… really?

How often has D&I been an afterthought?
How often has inclusion been reduced to a single day on the calendar, or to one identity, race, religion, gender?

Have we unintentionally reinforced other-ism?
Created a "normal" and then framed diversity as something that disrupts it?
More bashing, less bridging? More polishing, less practice?

D&I work has always been deeply intersectional.

It’s not a poster. Not a pledge.

It’s leadership.
It’s culture.
It’s power, how it shows up, who holds it, and who pays the price.

And it’s messy.
It should be.

So if this moment forces some of the performative efforts to end, if it clears the space of one-liners in job ads and token gestures, I’m not mourning it.

I’m relieved.

Honestly? I’m excited.

I’m looking forward to the pseudo-tokenistic-“experts” dropping like flies, and the real ones rising to the occasion.
The ones who aren’t afraid of the mess, who haven’t flinched (like some of us right now) because things are uncomfortable.

The ones who have been doing the work (I am not one of them but those who are the true experts like Lily Zheng or Tamara Makoni, who have never weaponized identity or pushed one group down to lift another up). The ones who have always understood that this has never been about what we call it (D&I, DEI, DEIB, DEIBJ) but it has always been about repair. Reckoning. It’s the necessary work of culture.

They have always shared with us that inclusion has never been a standalone strategy.

It’s the result of better leadership. Better choices. Better habits.

They have been calling out the gap between what’s said in D&I statements and what’s felt in the hallways.

Those well-meaning initiatives—ERGs, celebrations, webinars— sitting side by side with leadership that still isn’t reflective, respectful, or even safe for the very people they claim to support.

Importantly they have revealed the truth about
What kind of behavior do we tolerate? Who gets to speak up? Who gets listened to?

If you’re sitting with these questions, or just feeling uncertain about what this moment means, happy to chat. 

Photo by Alexandre Debiève on Unsplash