Goldman Sachs Under Conservative Pressure to Remove DEI from Board Selection Criteria
Under pressure from conservative activists and the Trump administration’s crackdown on DEI, Goldman Sachs plans to remove race and gender diversity criteria from board member evaluations, marking a sharp policy reversal.
According to reports, Goldman Sachs plans to eliminate criteria such as race, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other diversity indicators when evaluating potential board members, responding to pressure from conservative activists and amid President Donald Trump’s campaign against corporate DEI programs.
If approved at a shareholder meeting in April, the proposed policy change would mark the latest “rollback” of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives that have come under attack since Trump’s return to power last year.
The potential change at Goldman Sachs emerged following a request from the National Legal and Policy Center, reports the Wall Street Journal.
The conservative nonprofit organization, which acquired a small stake in the bank led by David Solomon, has become a vocal critic of left-wing DEI policies that spread throughout corporate America after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Goldman’s board currently identifies suitable candidates based on factors that include diversity in a broad sense — such as perspectives, background, work and military service — as well as “other demographic data” spanning various DEI categories.
Representatives from Goldman Sachs and the National Legal and Policy Center declined to comment.
The investment bank stated in its 2023 “People Strategy” report that it aimed to achieve gender parity globally across its workforce, while setting targets in the US for the workforce to be composed of 11% Black Americans and 14% Hispanic Americans.
However, the crackdown on those practices, supported by the White House, has prompted policy reviews at many leading companies.
Critics argue that policies such as diversity quotas undermine meritocracy in the workplace, while proponents claim their elimination represents a setback in achieving equity on American corporate boards.
The Post exclusively reported how Wall Street firms have changed course — including last February, when it revealed that Goldman was set to radically alter its DEI policy by removing inclusion terms from its website and corporate filings.
After Trump’s election, the firm also abandoned the requirement that companies must have at least two diverse members on their board before seeking an initial public offering.
The change aligns with broader market trends, as other major firms such as Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have softened their diversity commitments in recent months, relaxing language regarding hiring targets and supplier diversity amid regulatory scrutiny from the administration.
Trump has made tackling DEI a top priority, issuing executive orders to ban federal funding for related training seminars and encouraging private-sector rollbacks.
In September, the left-leaning hedge fund DE Shaw fired its diversity chief, Maya Hazell, as first reported by the New York Post.
The firm also abruptly removed all references to diversity programs and erased all “woke” terminology from its website following queries from the Post, with executives citing concerns over potential audits or sanctions.
