Twenty civil rights organizations signed a letter Thursday calling for Fortune 1000 company CEOs and board members to defend diversity, equity and inclusion practices.
"These shortsighted decisions make our workplaces less safe and less inclusive for hard-working Americans," the letter adds. She emphasized that LGBTQ+ consumers have $1.4 trillion of buying power, as reported by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. Robinson called moving away from DEI the "wrong decision for business".
"Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent," the letter read. Abandoning DEI will have long-term consequences on business success -- ultimately shirking fiduciary responsibility to employees, consumers, and shareholders. Businesses that fail to include women, people of color, people with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people neglect their financial duty to recruit and retain top talent from across the full talent pool and limit their company's performance overall.