A Cor-preneur's Playbook for Winning the War on DEI

If there were any questions or confusion before, there certainly shouldn’t be now - Project 2025 is real. The current presidential administration is making intentional moves to shift policies that have shaped modern society. On his first day in office, President Trump signed 26 executive orders—the most of any president since the Federal Register began keeping records in 1937. The previous record? Former President Joe Biden, who signed nine executive orders on his first day.

If you're a visual learner:

Source: The Federal Register - https://www.federalregister.gov/

These are not random or accidental actions. The changes happening at the federal level are aligned with Project 2025—a deliberate strategy that is already making its way into corporate spaces.

The DEI Rollback and Its Corporate Impact

One of the more concerning aspects of Project 2025 is its aggressive stance against diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, aiming to dismantle policies that promote workplace equality. This shift has already reached Corporate America, with companies like Target, JPMorgan Chase, and Google scaling back DEI programs. Countless corporations are quietly eliminating initiatives that support diverse hiring, supplier inclusion, and anti-discrimination safeguards—disproportionately impacting professionals of color.

A Pew Research study found that 28% of Black employees—and significant shares of other POC professionals—believe their employers are deprioritizing DEI, a concern likely to grow as these rollbacks continue. (Pew Research)

The effects are particularly evident in creative industries, where diverse voices have long fought for space. Only 6% of managers and 4% of corporate executives in marketing, media, and advertising are Black, while white-owned agencies jumped from 73% to 90.2% in just one year as leadership diversity declined. (Print Mag, AdAge)

Creative professionals—who often challenge the status quo—must now ask: How do we prepare, adapt, and push back against these changes? 

Funny enough, the answer may be looking back.

Looking to the Past for Strategy and Insight

The theme for this year’s Black History Month is “African Americans and Labor”. According to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH), the theme “focuses on the various and profound ways that work and working of all kinds – free and unfree, skilled, and unskilled, vocational and voluntary – intersect with the collective experiences of Black people”. These historical strategies offer key lessons for navigating today’s corporate shifts.

As we see the determination to push initiatives that drive America back towards its early history - which was marked by societal structures that favored racial segregation and inequity -  it may do us well to utilize strategies of the communities who fought to overcome. How did African American workers navigate economic exclusion during the Jim Crow Era? How have Asian and Hispanic communities fought back against violent discrimination that impacted their ability to work? How did Jewish American communities alchemize their widespread shunning into seemingly self-sustaining success? 

These are not just innocently curious questions—history holds valuable lessons for how corporate professionals today can protect their careers, maintain influence, and continue to build pathways for success.

How Corporate and Creative Professionals Can Navigate the Shift

1. No Free Game: Protect Your Intellectual & Professional Capital

   The beauty of having diverse backgrounds and life experiences is that it’s the very thing that gives you the mind to build groundbreaking, creative strategies that often are not seen in corporate spaces. As Black Americans have done throughout their entire history in this country - stop giving away your ideas and skills for free. Where you can, make it harder for misaligned individuals or groups to profit off your mind - especially those who support (or are) entities that threaten your livelihood. Support true service communities (like Urban League, NSBE, SHPE, and Creative Cor-prenuer 🙂 to name a few) and prioritize sharing resources in diverse spaces and organizations. Leverage your expertise where it’s valued and be selective about who benefits from your insights.

   
   

2. Align Yourself with Allies

   If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Seriously, it’s necessary to admit that sometimes you have to “play the office political game” a bit. This could mean identifying those with "power" and influence and being willing to endear yourself to them if necessary. Align yourself with allies and sponsors who recognize and value the benefits of diverse perspectives and are willing to advocate on your behalf. We all know that having an advocate who is more palatable ready and willing to speak up and then step aside to provide the space needed to complete the necessary work is helpful. Avoid “drinking the Kool-Aid” and looking at allies as saviors. Instead, hold them accountable to back up the good words through funding, mentorship or opportunities - whichever is needed most.

   
   

3. Choose Projects and Partnerships that Align with Progressive Thinking and Doing

   Many of our ancestors understood the power of economic independence—avoiding racist establishments, boycotting public services, and building their own opportunities. As a Cor-preneur, balancing both a 9-5 and entrepreneurial ventures allows you to create work that reflects your values, even if your corporate environment does not. If the company you work for is scaling back its commitment to diversity, be intentional about building a business, cultivating clients, or pursuing projects that support the communities and causes you care about.

   Economic influence has always been a powerful tool for change. Consider how quickly the general public organized a Starbucks boycott in response to political stances. Imagine the impact if Black and POC creators collectively pulled their products from major retailers like Target. Your gifts are valuable—your work has the power to make your clients successful, to shift narratives, and to drive meaningful change. “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.”

   
   

As we brace ourselves for what’s to come, it's essential for POC creative cor-preneurs to harness our unique skills, form strategic alliances, and make intentional choices about the work we do and the brands we support. The future is shaped by action, and now is the time to rise together—creating, influencing, and fighting for true equality and inclusion. Let’s protect what is sacred and continue to lead with purpose.