We asked D.C.-area businesses about diversity. Most of them didn't answer.

Business Journals

25-04-2025

"Are you allowed to still ask about diversity?'
'We are looking to keep our names out of the headlines when it comes to topics related to diversity.'
'Given the current climate on diversity and being a small business that DOGE could crush in a single blow, we will refrain from the survey.'
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'Quite frankly, I'm surprised you are asking this question.'
These are a few of the responses we got this year (all from companies that requested not to be named) to our annual survey for the Corporate Diversity Index, which seeks to measure the racial and ethnic diversity of Greater Washington's corporate workforce.
Needless to say, the companies above opted out. They weren't alone. About 30 companies told us they would not be participating in this survey, which was sent to more than 2,400 locally based companies. Many more just didn't respond at all.
The drop in participation, while expected given the current political climate and the Trump administration's all-out assault on anything DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), was still dramatic — especially for larger companies. A total of 102 companies participated this year, including just seven large companies with more than 1,000 employees. It was the lowest response rate ever, even compared to the first year we conducted the survey.
For comparison, last year, 157 companies participated, including 26 large companies.
The risk-averse
'We're in a regulatory moment where the language surrounding DEI is under more scrutiny than ever before,' said Jessica Childress, managing attorney of The Childress Firm PLLC, a D.C.-based employment law firm offering diversity counseling. 'The executive orders 14151 and 14173, they have introduced a lot of risk for companies, specifically federal contractors,' she said.
While court battles continue to be fought over these orders, the risks remain for now.
'I'm seeing the word 'diversity' dropped from company websites in which they were typically touted as values,' Childress said.
President Trump's executive order 14151 — 'Ending Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing' — called for the immediate termination of all 'diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities,' in the federal government, declaring them 'illegal' and 'discriminatory.'
Executive order 14173 — 'Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity'— called upon federal agencies to 'combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities,' while revoking several past executive orders that had promoted diversity and inclusion and equal employment opportunity in the federal workforce, and environmental justice for disadvantaged populations. Federal contractors were explicitly called out in the order as being held to these new standards.
'It's unprecedented in the way that risks are being presented to companies,' Childress said, 'but companies certainly are reevaluating their DEI programs and how they achieve inclusion in light of these executive orders.'
The unflinching
But while some steer away from that risk, others have doubled down on their commitment to diversity.
'Recently, discussions around diversity, equity and inclusion have become more polarized, but we wanted to be unequivocally clear to our staff,' said Erin Willett, managing partner at Assured Consulting Solutions, a Reston consulting firm with 60 employees, half of which are people of color. 'Our commitment to fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive environment is not driven by politics. It is driven by our core values, our mission and our unwavering belief that a workplace that welcomes all perspectives is a stronger, more effective one.'
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Erin Willett is founder and managing partner of Assured Consulting Solutions.
Assured Consulting Solutions
Ntiva Inc., a 700-person IT consulting firm in McLean, counts more than a quarter of its total staff as people of color — and is actively working to improve its diversity and inclusion. Denise Boote, Ntiva's director of people, said the company is monitoring rates of change in leadership, especially the percentages of women and people of color. Ntiva is also spotlighting diversity through social media, while making extra efforts to attract and retain diverse talent, Boote said.
And some of the companies reported more outward-facing initiatives as well. Freedom Bank of Virginia, for example, touted its work administering the NOVA Freedom Fund through its foundation. The fund provides financing and technical support to entrepreneurs of color. Kathleen Johnson, CMO of the bank, said the foundation has so far raised over $350,000 for the fund, serving 15 entrepreneurs who now employ over 125 people regionally.
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Bo Menkiti is CEO of the Menkiti Group.
Abdullah Konte / WBJ
The Menkiti Group also brought up its Obsidian Catalyst Fund, which invests in diverse developers, in partnership with Grove Impact — typically providing $1 million to $5 million per project. For example, 'At MLK Gateway in Anacostia, we prioritized local and minority-owned businesses in our leasing strategy and collaborated with community-based organizations to create positive social impact for the historic Anacostia neighborhood,' CEO Bo Menkiti said of his firm's multiphase mixed-use project in historic Anacostia.
Q&A: Jessica Childress, managing partner, The Childress Firm PLLC
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Jessica Childress delivered a Tedx talk in 2024 on the impact of hiring diverse talent.
The Childress Firm PLLC
For more clarity about how federal contractors are approaching DEI and compliance, I spoke with employment law attorney Jessica Childress of The Childress Firm PLLC. Here's what she said, edited for space and clarity.
What is different now from an employment law perspective? From an employment law context, what you're seeing is the trend that there are more reverse discrimination claims. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has always prohibited unlawful discrimination on the basis of certain protected classes, race and sex being among those protected classes, and that is still the law. And so under Title Seven of the Civil Rights Act, you can't discriminate against a person on the basis of several protected categories, but among them are race and sex.
So what is going to get contractors in trouble now? So if your diversity program uses a protected class or protected identity to discriminate against any group, even if you have altruistic goals behind that DEI program, it can bring legal risk to the company.
We talk about contractors, but what other industries could be targeted? The acting chair of the EEOC, Andrea Lucas, issued a letter to several major law firms recently asking them to describe their DEI programs. And law firms especially have been at the forefront of creating more inclusive, more diverse environments, because law has traditionally been an industry that has lacked in racial diversity. So law firms have been at the forefront of creating programs that do increase diversity, and those programs are now under a lot of scrutiny from the EEOC. And so law firms are retreating. And I think other major companies are following suit.
How can companies still hold these values while avoiding the compliance risk? I think inclusion and belonging have been universally accepted as legal and so belonging and inclusion were a part of the traditional DEI programs. I think a best practice is to make sure that you're not unlawfully using any identity to achieve belonging and inclusion.
But is it really risky to talk about diversity now? You know, there is risk in that. I think there's just a lot of uncertainty, because there's a lot of uncertainty surrounding what the administration considers to be unlawful.
Where do you see all this going? I think what we're going to see is the courts really unpacking what is impermissible and what's not. Right now, we just haven't seen — there's not a huge body of case law surrounding what is unlawful and what's not.
What can companies do in the meantime? Closely following the case law on this topic is important, doing a review, a diversity audit, just an audit of your practices, is important to determine if those practices are legal in light of — or I think the better word is how much risk they bring — the current executive orders, and what the courts are saying about DEI programs.
What else? I think companies can still achieve inclusion by making sure that everyone in the workplace is respected, making sure that companies are still very much obligated not to discriminate or harass any group of employees.
What's the bottom line for companies that want a positive work culture without legal risk? You know, a goal like diversity and inclusion is actually not a legal requirement, but it is a legal requirement that companies do not discriminate or harass any group of employees. I think that inclusion is a wonderful, important goal for companies right now. Companies have to be very careful in how they go about achieving that goal in light of the current terrain.
Greater Washington Corporate Diversity Index - Small Companies (<100 employees)
Percentage of total employees that are POC
Rank Prior Rank Name/Prior/URL
1
1
Latin Goodness Foods LLC dba MasPanadas
2
2
ABC Limo Services
3
3
Spacesaver Interiors View this list
Greater Washington Corporate Diversity Index – Midsize Companies (100-999 employees)
Percentage of total employees that are POC
Rank Prior Rank Name/Prior/URL
1
1
Clean Office Inc.
2
16
Alpha Omega
3
3
J.B. Kline Landscaping View this list