What the fall of DEI means for religion

Yahoo

19-02-2025

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President Donald Trump's return to the White House has sparked changes to DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs across the country.
Trump administration officials have done away with DEI initiatives in government agencies, and many leaders in the private sector have followed their lead.
These changes have affected not just race- and ethnicity-based programs and clubs, but also religion-related employee resource groups.
For example, federal agencies no longer have faith-based ERGs, because they were shut down amid the DEI program purge, according to Brian Grim, the founding president of the Religious Freedom and Business Foundation.
Something similar played out in recent years on college campuses that shuttered DEI offices, as I previously reported for the Deseret News.
Interfaith organizations lost funding and staff members due to changes that were generally thought to be focused on race, sexuality and gender.
Grim has been tracking this trend closely, since he's an advocate for faith-based initiatives in workplaces.
He said that most public companies he works with are continuing to support faith-oriented employee resource groups even as they fall out of favor in Washington.
However, some companies are making adjustments to their system of employee groups, as recent reporting from Fast Company makes clear.
Adjustments include changing the names of resource groups and reframing the mission of the groups to be more about professional advancement than personal connection.
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The ACTS 17 Collective is a nondenominational nonprofit that's working to spark conversations about religion and spirituality in Silicon Valley.
It was launched last year by Michelle Stephens, who is personally and professionally connected to high-profile tech investors like Peter Thiel, according to The New York Times.
At ACTS 17 events, attendees can access both professional and spiritual benefits. They connect with Silicon Valley stars while learning new ways to connect with God.
Recent talks have been about leaning on faith to make career decisions and the relationship between artificial intelligence and religion.
The name of the group, ACTS 17, refers to a chapter in the Bible that recounts the apostle Paul's ministry to wealthy Greeks. It's also an acronym for the phrase 'Acknowledging Christ in Technology and Society,' the Times reported.
Stephens told the Times that she knows the focus of the group is unique, but added that wealthy tech workers can benefit from faith just as much as anyone else.
'We were always taught as Christians to serve the meek, the lowly, the marginalized,' she said. 'I think we've realized that, if anything, the rich, the wealthy, the powerful need Jesus just as much.'
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