In this episode of DEI Minute, Jamey addresses how organizations can continue supporting internal programs dedicated to specific groups while ensuring compliance with current and potential future legal restrictions related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Jamey discusses the impact of recent executive orders and legal actions on DEI initiatives, particularly focusing on programs like Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) and professional development targeted toward underrepresented groups.

Jamey outlines practical steps to make these initiatives both inclusive and legally compliant. The main recommendation is to open all such programs to everyone, while intentionally maintaining their focus on groups historically facing barriers, and ensuring that participation does not influence promotion decisions. Concrete tips are provided for designing and running compliant programs, alongside a resource memo from state Attorneys General for further guidance.

To find out more, visit: www.Equity-At-Work.com

Resources Mentioned: https://www.mass.gov/doc/multi-state-guidance-concerning-diversity-equity-inclusion-and-accessibility-employment-initiatives/download

Key Topics Discussed:

• Legal landscape and executive orders impacting DEI initiatives
• Best practices for keeping internal programs compliant
• Adapting group-specific leadership and professional development initiatives
• Strategies for inclusivity while retaining program impact
• Application process and promotion policy tips for these programs
• Resource recommendations from state Attorneys General
• The importance of legal counsel in adapting DEI policies

I'm Jamey Applegate, Senior Director of DEI at EquityAtWork, and this is your DEI minute, your go to podcast for leaders looking to navigate the ever evolving landscape of diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. Whether you're just starting out with DEI or looking to sustain your long term successes, each episode will provide you with the actions you can take to move DEI forward at your organization, all in 15 minutes or less. Join us every other week as we break through the noise and help you do DEI Right. Let's get to it. In previous episodes I talked about employee resource groups and recruiting diverse talent within the context of executive orders from the Trump administration. Ergs are common in many workplaces. They are legal when they are open to everyone and they should be maintained and supported. And recruiting diverse talent is also common in many workplaces.

It is also legal to recruit diverse talent as long as your hiring and promotions processes continue to be non discriminatory and do not provide preferences to people who belong to a specific group. Those should also be maintained and supported. So today we're going to talk generally about internal programs that companies might have that support specific groups of people and how to adjust those so that they are compliant. I am aware, obviously you are too, that there was an injunction on a lot of the executive orders that came down around DEI and was filed by the City of Baltimore in a suit against the Trump administration. They did put that injunction in place. So it does pause any enforcement against federal agencies, against companies that contract with the Trump administration or with the government. And it also applies to investigations from the DoJ against companies. They are not allowed to do that.

For now, when we discuss this, these internal programs that we're going to talk about, when we're talking about those, we are imagining a world in which that injunction is lifted and those executive orders can be put into place more thoroughly. So that's what we're talking about here. Definitely more to come on those those lawsuits. But for now we're going to do some best case planning. So today we're going to talk generally about internal programs that companies might have that support specific groups of people and how to adjust those so they're compliant with the law. For today, we're going to talk about a hypothetical professional development and leadership program, women at a technology company. In this example, the program was developed after the company looked at its demographic data by hierarchical level and its termination data. And it found the women make up almost half of the company overall, but they only make up 10% of technical positions and they only make up 4% of director level positions and there is only one woman on the senior leadership team and she is the chief marketing officer for termination data, they saw that women are leaving the organization at higher rates than their male counterparts.

They are leaving in higher than expected numbers before they hit five years of tenure. The overall average tenure is 10 plus years for the organization. So after conducting focus groups with women throughout the company, the organization developed a professional development and leadership program aimed at creating a space for women to connect with each other. A hypothesis there was that this would just help with retention, inform women specific recruiting strategies. The hypothesis was that this would help with low numbers of women in technical positions and finally that it would create a space for women to develop leadership skills. The hypothesis was that this would help with career growth and representation in leadership roles at the company. Prior to these executive orders, a program like this might have been viewed as potentially discriminatory against people who aren't women, but it was unlikely that any action would be taken or that the program would be required to shut down. Under the current executive orders, it's clear that a program like this would be likely to be identified as discriminatory and it would be required to end.

This holds true for any program that is specific to a given group, be it an employee resource group, internships, this leadership or professional development program, mentorship fellowships or networking groups. But there are ways to continue these programs while also maintaining their focus on groups that are identified as not having had access to opportunities. So here are five tips. Number one. Be explicit that any program like this, including ones that had previously been designed for specific groups, are now open to any and all applicants. Everyone can apply and will be considered. Number two, Be explicit that participation in these programs will not impact or inform promotion decisions and that the company will maintain a non discriminatory promotions process that focuses on technical skills and what each applicant brings to the organization in terms of supporting a welcoming and productive workplace culture. Reaffirm that these programs, while open to everyone, are designed for people who feel they have faced barriers to success in the workplace, both at this company and in their career overall.

Number four and I mentioned this in a previous episode. Add a question to the application that asks what varies to opportunity and success the applicant has faced in their career and how this program will help them in their career, both at the organization right now and more generally. This mirrors what the Supreme Court approved for colleges and universities when it struck down affirmative action. They articulated that race cannot be considered explicitly, but that if a student discusses their lived experience, including how race played a role in their lived experience in an application essay, then a college or university could take that into consideration. As these programs are no longer tied to promotions decisions, there should be no adverse effect on people who have not participated and there should be no adverse effect on people who have not faced barriers. They would, as a note, also not have much to gain from these programs. 5. Adjust the programs to have two distinct components.

One is the universal part of the program in which all participants come together to undertake new learnings or networking. The other is breakout groups where the topic of discussion is the experiences of a specific group. These are just like the program overall open to everyone and each person can join whichever breakout group they'd like, but the topic of conversation is set and cannot be changed. These should run concurrently and each person should be free to join whichever breakout group they'd like. We're going to apply those five tips to our Women's Professional Development and Leadership Program example, and so here's how those would play out. The program would now be a general professional development and leadership program that is open to any and all employees who would like to apply. Participation in the program might help a participant develop new skills, but that participation does not inform promotion decisions. The program scope and content would be geared towards people who have faced barriers in their careers to date, and a question would be added to the application that asks what barriers to opportunity and success the applicant has faced in their career and how this program will help them in their career, both at this organization and more generally.

The program would now have the following professional development sessions around leadership skills, discussions about recruiting strategy generally, and breakouts to discuss recruiting strategies for specific groups. Each breakout is open to everyone and each person can choose for themselves which session they want to join. They could join a session that speaks to them for their shared personal characteristic, or they could join session and learn about a different group's workplace experiences. The choice is up to them. So there you have it. A way to make programs aimed at a specific group open to everyone while maintaining focus on groups that have not had access to opportunity or that have faced barriers in their career. As a note, before we end this episode turn just like the previous episodes, all of this guidance is just that. It's general guidance.

It is not specific to any workplace or industry. As you apply it to your workplace, please do make sure to connect with your legal counsel for more situation specific guidance. Also before we close, a great resource is a recent memo put out by the Attorneys General of Massachusetts and Illinois and supported by the Attorneys General of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode island and Vermont. It's called Multi State Guidance Concerning Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility Employment Initiatives. We'll link to it in our notes. It is an incredible document and memo about the importance of Diversity Equity inclusion initiatives and articulates the framework for their legality and how to make sure that they are done correctly and done well. It's a really, really great resource. I suggest looking at it, incorporating it into your practice.

As always, if you're working through how to continue your DEI work or how to implement internal DEI programs in this new world, we're here to help. Please send us an email or connect us on our website. Thanks so much for listening. That's a wrap. I'm Jamie Applegate and that's your DEI minute for today. Thank you for listening. Please be sure to follow us wherever you listen to podcasts and don't forget to leave us a review. If you ever have questions, please visit our website or send us an email.

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