DEI has long been a moving target, and companies have had to constantly recalibrate, adapting to shifting expectations, mounting reputational risks, and intensifying political headwinds. Over the past year, rising conservative activist backlash, amplified by the arrival of the Trump administration, has made DEI a political lightning rod and growing challenge for companies seeking to balance diverging stakeholder priorities.
In our latest analysis, Gravity Research tracked public DEI changes between June 2024 and June 2025 across 57 Fortune 1000 companies and major sports leagues. Our benchmarking examined the various DEI initiatives that saw the most change, such as hiring goals and DEI personnel, as well as the channels used to communicate these pivots.
Key Insights
About 1 in 5 organizations shifted hiring goals after President Trump’s inauguration. Hiring goal changes clustered in sectors with more stringent regulations, especially financial services (33%) and consumer discretionary and communications (20%), likely reflecting a desire to avoid regulatory DEI probes and to protect federal contracts.
Companies were more likely to adjust DEI roles rather than eliminate them outright. Corporations removed DEI personnel and CDO positions at consistent rates pre-election and post-inauguration. However, post-inauguration, more firms opted instead to reconfigure teams (68%) and CDO roles (75%) to de-emphasize politicized language without abandoning overarching ambitions.
Post-inauguration, firms attributed DEI shifts to legal compliance. 85% of public statements cited a shifting legal, social, or political landscape, and 80% affirmed ongoing commitments to “inclusion,” “belonging,” or “accessibility,” even amid policy changes.
Looking Ahead
The pace of public DEI changes has slowed, which may reflect a wait-and-see approach rather than a reversal of direction. As conservative activists question whether declines in DEI-related language reflect real change or simple rebranding, companies may experience a future uptick in backlash.
Download the full report to learn more about trends in public corporate changes to DEI over the past year.
