Shareholders to Vote on DEI, Viewpoint Diversity, Overboarding, and Radical Donations

DEI by Another Name

In response to legal, political, consumer, or shareholder pressures, companies are increasingly replacing “DEI” terminology with broader terms such as “Inclusion,” “Culture,” or “Belonging,” while providing little explanation as to whether the changes are substantive or primarily cosmetic.  For example, CVS Health renamed its public-facing DEI page to ”Inclusion & Belonging” without issuing a public statement explaining the change. The company also stopped referencing a diversity pay metric for leadership in their annual 10-K filing. Similarly, Home Depot quietly removed its DEI webpage and replaced it with a ”Living Our Values“ section. While these changes alter the public branding, they do not necessarily clarify whether the companies’ underlying policies or priorities have materially changed.  From a shareholder perspective, this lack of transparency can create uncertainty about a company’s strategic direction and how it intends to approach politically and socially contentious issues going forward. It is in companies’ best fiduciary interest to clearly communicate whether they are maintaining, modifying, or discontinuing DEI-related initiatives rather than simply changing terminology. Providing that clarity allows shareholders and other stakeholders to better understand the company’s priorities and evaluate whether its policies remain focused on advancing its core business objectives and long-term fiduciary responsibilities.  Home Depot’s Previous DEI Page vs Its “Rebranded” Page

Microsoft Directs Benevity to Drop SPLC Filter

After engagement from Inspire Investing and others, Microsoft has directed Benevity to stop using the SPLC’s “hate map” to filter nonprofits from its employee gift-matching program. In its “Max the Match” document, Microsoft states any nonprofit organization that “verifies its 501c3 or equivalent status will be available to Microsoft employees.” The Daily Signal highlighted several organizations, including the 1792 Exchange, engaging companies on behalf of shareholders to ensure charitable giving is viewpoint neutral. The 1792 Exchange is pleased to work alongside Inspire Investing, Bowyer Research, the Heritage Foundation, and many others in this important work. 1792 Exchange created this resource to track how companies are responding to the growing controversy surrounding the SPLC and Benevity and encourages companies that have made changes to their charitable giving programs to disclose those changes to their customers and shareholders.

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