17 state financial officers, influential shareholders urge corporations to reject pressure to keep failing DEI policies
15 states, groups with over $65 billion in assets under management mobilized to urge Fortune 1000 companies to focus on business excellence while leaving politics at ballot box
WASHINGTON – Seventeen state treasurers and other financial officers, as well as a coalition of investors and financial advisors, released separate open letters last week addressed to Fortune 1000 companies calling on leaders to resist recent pressure from members of Congress to reaffirm their commitment to discriminatory Diversity Equity and Inclusion policies and practices.
Led by Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, the state financial officers’ letter was joined by her colleagues from Alaska, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi (two signatories), North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska (two signatories), Oklahoma, South Dakota, South Carolina, and Utah. The letter from investors, financial advisors, and fiduciaries was signed by Christian financial technology firm Inspire Investing, financial advisor David Bahnsen, Samaritan’s Purse, Justin Danhof of Strive Asset Management, and proxy voting and corporate engagement consultant Jerry Bowyer.
Together, the group comprises 15 states and investors with more than $65 billion in assets under management. The letters respond to political pressure from California Rep. Robert Garcia, who recently led a letter signed by 49 House Democrats that called on Fortune 1000 leaders to double-down on divisive and legally risky DEI policies. The state financial officers and shareholder groups urge major corporations to instead prioritize their fiduciary duty to shareholders while contributing to a culture of free speech and free religious exercise that is often at odds with DEI.
“The divisive and discriminatory ideology at the root of DEI has caused some of our country’s most prominent companies, like Home Depot, Lowe’s, Ford, and Toyota, to pull back on their DEI programs,” said Alliance Defending Freedom Senior Counsel and Senior Vice President of Corporate Engagement Jeremy Tedesco. “We should celebrate that and call on other companies to follow their lead. Sadly, some members of Congress have instead responded by urging companies to reaffirm their DEI commitments. Businesses should listen to their employees, customers, and shareholders, rather than politicians, and jettison DEI once and for all.”
Both letters highlight the current unraveling of false narratives propping up DEI policies—many of which reached their high point during the political turmoil of 2020. This year, two new academic studies have raised significant questions about heavily relied-upon claims that DEI policies improve performance in corporations.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2023 ruling in Students for Fair Admission v. Harvard highlights the legal risk corporations invite by adopting policies that treat employees, vendors, and even customers differently based on immutable characteristics. This ruling, lower court rulings interpreting it, and high-profile public exposure campaigns like those led by Robby Starbuck, have led an increasing number of companies to abandon DEI, along with far-left social credit scoring systems such as the Human Rights Campaign’s so-called “Corporate Equality Index” that pressure companies into taking divisive stands on hot-button cultural issues.
“It is our considered judgment that DEI policies and practices threaten your company’s financial health, its reputation with customers, our nation’s economy, and the civil liberties of everyday Americans,” the letter from state financial officers states. “You have a fiduciary duty to your shareholders to avoid policies and practices that pose risk to firm performance. DEI programs are clearly such a risk.”
Alliance Defending Freedom is an alliance-building, non-profit legal organization committed to protecting religious freedom, free speech, parental rights, and the sanctity of life.
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