Let's Not Go Backward Quietly

by Laura Powers

DEI: Diversity. Equity. Inclusion. Because if we wait for institutions, we’ll be waiting forever.

This year, Pride Month was welcomed with caution tape, not confetti. 

Governments are backpedaling. Budgets are being slashed. DEI departments are renamed, reframed, or removed altogether. Organizations that once touted equity as a pillar of innovation are now quietly dropping it from their decks, hoping that no one notices. Let’s not pretend this is surprising — or acceptable.

It’s maddening. It’s disheartening. And it’s stupid business.

The data is still clear. Diverse teams perform better.

Equity drives innovation. Inclusion improves time to market. (In fact, our research found that organizations with mature DEI strategies report a 4-month speed advantage.) So why are we backsliding?

Here’s the truth: DEI was always more fragile than we wanted to admit. Too often, it was performative. A line item. A committee. A photo on the careers page. We knew this. In fact, our own research, from just a few years ago, revealed that only 11–20% of agile teams were deliberately designed with inclusion and equity in mind. Let that sink in. The same teams shouting “psychological safety” still left most voices outside the circle.

So, where does that leave us?

It leaves us here. With you. With me. With individuals who are unwilling to wait for the next wave of corporate virtue-signaling or legislative progress. DEI doesn’t live in budget lines or branding decks. It lives in daily behaviors — in your choices, your hiring, your retros, and our courage.

Here’s what that can look like, right now:

Five DEI Actions You Can Take  Even If Your Org Won’t

1. Audit your meetings. Who’s speaking? Who’s silent? Who’s interrupted? Who’s ignored? Start tracking it. Then shift the dynamic. Create space. Share power.  
2. Champion pay transparency. Ask the uncomfortable question. Talk about your salary (pay secrecy clauses are illegal in the US, Australia, and most of the world). Raise the awkward flag. Gen Z already notices the gaps — be the person who doesn’t look away.  
3. Design with difference in mind. Whether you're staffing a team, planning a sprint, or creating a policy, pause and ask: Who might this unintentionally exclude? If you’re not deliberately designing for equity, you’re designing for bias by default. Remember: Nobody should have to ask for special accommodations to be included.   
4. Interrupt bias in the moment. “Can we rephrase that?” “Let’s check that assumption.” “That’s not okay.” These aren’t brave acts of rebellion; they’re baseline leadership.  
5. Stay loud — especially when it gets quiet. You don’t need a DEI title to be a DEI leader. Be an ally. Raise the topic. Ask the questions. Keep inclusion on the agenda, even when it’s not trending.

The fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion has never just belonged to institutions. It belongs to us. Especially now.

Let’s not go backward quietly.

By: Laura Powers is the CEO of the Business Agility Institute. She’s spent her career pushing organizations to be more human, more courageous, and a lot less allergic to hard conversations. She believes real change starts when we stop waiting for permission.

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