Five years ago was an awakening for many organizations, realizing there was a gap between their actions and their values. That insight has not changed, and firms are better for their efforts to create a workplace more attractive to the talent in the market. No matter how you want to label it, that important work must continue.
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The bottom line on diversity, equity, and inclusion work is ultimately about making companies better. At its core, DEI translates to organizations being welcoming, supportive, and fair to people from all walks of life. Executed properly, it should lead to a bigger pipeline of qualified potential hires, improved retention, and a better customer experience, helping grow businesses.
Of course, the phrase DEI is a white-hot political topic right now, with President Donald Trump and his supporters actively trying to scrub the initiative out of existence. To avoid not only the political headwinds but any significant federal funding threats, institutions across the state and the country have either publicly de-committed from their promises from five years ago or quietly removed DEI phrasing from their corporate materials. While this shift has accelerated in 2025, DEI initiatives were slowly losing steam at a majority of companies over the last couple years, due to haphazard rollouts, surface-level-only commitments, and shifting priorities. There are businesses who remain visibly supportive of DEI efforts, but today they are in the minority.
DEI work isn’t dead, but it is clearly at an inflection point, as WBJ Staff Writer Mica Kanner-Mascolo points out in her “DEI’s not dead” story, which makes up the heart of this annual special edition on diversity, equity, and inclusion first launched in 2021. DEI consultants and those doing work inside companies are trying to find ways to accomplish DEI’s ultimate goals while flying a bit under the radar. Phrases like opportunity, inclusivity, and belonging are replacing the words diversity, equity, and inclusion. Worcester DEI consultancy Promoting Good is focusing on its new program Cultiv8 designed around the idea of inclusive leadership, knowing any corporate culture change needs to come from the top.
Companies that win are the companies that win on talent. They hire the best people and give them the opportunity, training, and resources necessary to develop their careers and positively impact the organization. This is the cheat code to succeeding at business. While a portion of DEI is customer-facing, the initiatives mostly boil down to recruiting and retaining the best talent, so companies that win are the companies that win at DEI. The initiatives understand that talent is spread evenly throughout a population, but opportunity is not. The best companies, whether they call any initiative along those lines DEI or something else, are always striving to provide opportunities to the most talented people they can find and develop.
Five years ago was an awakening for many organizations, realizing there was a gap between their actions and their values. That insight has not changed, and firms are better for their efforts to create a workplace more attractive to the talent in the market. No matter how you want to label it, that important work must continue.
This editorial is the opinion of the WBJ Editorial
