Law firms advise businesses on Trump 2.0 policies
Virginia law firms see surge in client questions as Trump’s 2025 executive orders spark regulatory, immigration, and DEI compliance concerns.
Disabled workers have faced prejudice. Now they face DOGE firings
Mass federal layoffs under Trump target disabled workers, raising concerns about the future of inclusive hiring and Schedule A protections.
Virginia Tech’s president defends NIH research funding
President Sands warns NIH cuts will harm research, national security, and Virginia Tech’s future as Trump-era policies challenge higher education.
A federal judge temporarily blocks parts of Trump’s anti-DEI executive orders
CHICAGO (AP) — A federal judge has temporarily blocked the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing parts of President Donald Trump‘s executive orders aimed at curbing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts among federal contractors and grant recipients. Judge Matthew Kennelly of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois halted the Labor Department […]
Founders of Black-owned brands adapt their hopes and business plans for a post-DEI era
NEW YORK (AP) — The co-founders of a company that makes lip products for darker skin tones no longer hope to get their line into Target. A brother and sister who make jigsaw puzzles celebrating Black subjects wonder if they need to offer “neutral” images like landscapes to keep growing. Pound Cake and Puzzles of Color […]
More than 50 universities face federal investigations as part of Trump’s anti-DEI campaign
WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 50 universities are being investigated for alleged racial discrimination as part of President Donald Trump‘s campaign to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs that his officials say exclude white and Asian American students. The Education Department announced the new investigations Friday, one month after issuing a memo warning America’s schools[...]
Trump-led DEI crackdown may leave glass ceilings intact
In the “Mad Men” era of the 1960s and 1970s, when my mother was climbing the corporate ladder at C&P Telephone, she was frequently the only woman at out-of-state national technical trainings for managers. And from her recollection, if the men in the classes weren’t hitting on her, many were resentful or threatened by her […]
Left behind?
In June 2022, Booz Allen Hamilton was without a chief diversity officer. The McLean-based Fortune 500 management consulting contractor’s chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer, Jon G. Muñoz, stepped down after a year in the role. A year and a half later, Booz Allen hasn’t hired anyone new for the position — but that’s by […]
Building equity
When BB&T recruited Thomas Ransom, a Black economics student at Hampden-Sydney College, to join its management development program in the late 1990s, he quickly had to pick up the world of banking and its culture. The Urbanna native says he’d never met a banker before starting at BB&T and certainly didn’t know what moves to […]
After the crisis
During summer 2020, racial inequities took center stage in the United States as protesters took to the streets after the murder of George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, by a Minneapolis police officer was captured on video and widely disseminated via social media and news outlets. Corporate America also responded, primarily through public statements vowing […]
Pharrell brings Mighty Dream to Norfolk
In November, Grammy-winning music superstar Pharrell Williams hosted the three-day Mighty Dream forum in Norfolk and broke some news about his Something in the Water music festival and the status of his team’s proposal to redevelop Norfolk’s Military Circle Mall site. Mighty Dream, a sequel to his 2021 Elephant in the Room business conference at […]
Innovation was at center of Mighty Dream Day 3
On the third and final day of Pharrell Williams‘ Mighty Dream Forum in Norfolk, the theme was innovation. The first day‘s focus was diversity and equity, while Wednesday was largely dedicated to inspiring entrepreneurs to find and create opportunities. Panelists throughout the day Thursday encouraged attendees to innovate, seek out resources and do their homework […]